TINUBU GOVERNMENT CAN’T PROVE ₦33.75 BILLION CASH TRANSFERS REACHED 3.29 MILLION VULNERABLE NIGERIANS, AUDIT REPORT REVEALS
Serious questions have been raised over billions of naira distributed under Nigeria’s social intervention programme after federal auditors said they were unable to verify that ₦33.75 billion in electronic cash transfers reached genuine beneficiaries.
According to findings contained in the Auditor General for the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report, auditors examined transactions carried out by the National Cash Transfer Office during the 2023 financial year.
The audit said electronic payments totalling approximately ₦33.751 billion were made to 3,295,207 beneficiaries across 35 states.
However, auditors said documentation necessary to authenticate the payments was incomplete.
According to the report, payment vouchers did not contain sufficient beneficiary information to allow auditors to properly reconcile recipients against the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register.
Auditors also said they were unable to obtain the necessary Remita statement to complete the reconciliation.
“This hindered the authentication of the payments and made it difficult to ascertain whether the beneficiaries who received the funds were genuine,” the audit report stated.
AUDITORS SAY ACCESS TO REMITA RECORDS WAS DENIED
The report contains an even more serious allegation concerning attempts to access payment information.
Auditors said efforts to obtain the Remita records required to verify the transactions were unsuccessful.
“All efforts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were obstructed and denied by NTCO accounts staff, thereby frustrating the audit process,” the report stated.
The Auditor General warned that inadequate supporting documentation creates a risk of public money being paid to people who are ineligible or potentially fictitious.
Importantly, the audit finding does not itself establish that ₦33.75 billion was stolen or that all of the listed beneficiaries were fictitious.
Rather, auditors said they could not obtain sufficient evidence to authenticate the payments.
The report recommended that the National Programme Manager provide a proper account of the ₦33.75 billion before the National Assembly or recover any amounts that cannot be accounted for and remit them to the Treasury.
BILLIONS MORE FLAGGED IN SEPARATE AUDIT QUERIES
The ₦33.75 billion payment issue was not the only concern raised by auditors.
The report also queried approximately ₦36.74 billion reportedly paid through 215 vouchers without undergoing the required prepayment audit process.
Auditors warned that bypassing such controls could expose public funds to misapplication or diversion.
Another ₦4.616 billion involving 101 payments was reportedly queried because supporting payment vouchers were not provided for examination.
The audit also raised questions about approximately ₦350.18 million released for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries across different states.
Auditors said the money remained unaccounted for based on the documentation presented during the audit.
QUESTIONS OVER MONEY RETURNED BY STATES
The report further raised concerns over approximately ₦393.71 million reportedly returned by nine states.
Auditors said they could not find evidence demonstrating that the money had been credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The Auditor General consequently called for the funds to be properly accounted for.
According to the report, management of the National Cash Transfer Office did not provide responses to the eight audit issues raised.
CASH TRANSFERS UNDER SCRUTINY
Nigeria’s cash transfer programmes are intended to provide financial assistance to some of the country’s poorest and most vulnerable households.
The programmes have become particularly important as millions of Nigerians struggle with the rising cost of food, transportation and other basic necessities.
The latest audit findings are therefore likely to intensify demands for greater transparency surrounding how beneficiaries are identified and how public money is distributed.
An audit query does not automatically establish fraud or criminal wrongdoing.
However, the inability to provide documentation allowing billions of naira in public expenditure to be independently verified raises significant accountability questions that the responsible agencies will be expected to address.
VNTV
