The Federal Government has been left with a huge accountability headache after the Auditor-General for the Federation raised questions over N33.75 billion reportedly transferred to more than 3.29 million households under its cash-transfer programme.
Auditors said they could not independently establish that the billions actually reached the genuine beneficiaries for whom the money was intended.
The startling finding is contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, which examined transactions of the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), Abuja, during the 2023 financial year.
The report was transmitted to the National Assembly on July 17, 2026.
According to the audit, N33.751 billion was electronically transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries drawn from the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states.
But when auditors demanded the records needed to establish who actually received the money, the documentation reportedly fell short.
The payment vouchers presented for examination did not contain complete beneficiary details, while the crucial Remita statement needed to match actual recipients with names on the government’s beneficiary registers was not made available.
Without the statement, auditors said they could not authenticate the payments or determine whether the people who received the money were genuine beneficiaries.
Even more troubling, the audit report said efforts to obtain the Remita records were allegedly obstructed by accounts officials at the NCTO, frustrating the verification exercise.
The auditors consequently warned of the risk of payments to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries and possible loss of public funds.
However, the finding does not by itself establish that the entire N33.75 billion was stolen or diverted. Rather, it shows that the NCTO failed to produce sufficient documentation for auditors to independently verify the payments.
NCTO Asked To Explain N33.75bn
With the money now under the auditor’s microscope, the Auditor-General recommended that the National Programme Manager be made to appear before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the N33.75 billion.
The official is also expected to produce evidence showing that the money was actually received by the intended beneficiaries.
Where the NCTO cannot satisfactorily account for the funds, the auditors recommended that the affected money be recovered and paid into the national treasury.
The report also called for documentary evidence showing receipt of the funds by beneficiaries, warning that failure to provide the required records could attract sanctions for irregular payments under the Financial Regulations.
More Financial Red Flags
The N33.75 billion issue was only one of eight audit queries raised against the National Cash Transfer Office.
Auditors also questioned N36.744 billion paid through 215 vouchers for December 2023 transactions, saying the payments were made without the required pre-payment or internal audit checks.
Another N4.616 billion covering 101 transactions recorded in the NCTO’s cash book could not be supported with the relevant paid vouchers.
The audit further raised questions over N350.18 million released to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries, saying supporting documents such as beneficiary lists, photographs, attendance registers and acknowledgement records were not provided.
There was also a N393.71 million refund from nine state cash-transfer units which auditors said lacked evidence showing that the money was eventually credited into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Another N280.42 million paid as mobilisation advances to payment service providers came under scrutiny after auditors found that the money was released without the required Advance Payment Guarantee.
The procurement process for the service providers was also questioned, with auditors saying they could not find adequate evidence of pre-qualification, bidding or technical and financial evaluation.
N89.5m Goods Missing From Records
The audit also uncovered problems with the NCTO’s store management.
Goods valued at about N89.51 million allegedly purchased by the office were not recorded in its store ledger.
Auditors said relevant Store Receipt Vouchers and Store Issue Vouchers were missing, while the agency’s store ledger had reportedly not been updated since 2020.
There was another query over N17.42 million spent on diesel through cash advances to staff.
Auditors argued that the expenditure exceeded the applicable procurement threshold and should have gone through the appropriate procurement process.
The diesel purchased could also not be physically sighted or traced to the stores, while the procurement method was estimated to have cost the government about N2.18 million in VAT and withholding tax revenue.
Management Failed To Respond
Across the eight audit findings, the Auditor-General said the management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to provide satisfactory responses to the queries.
The revelations are likely to fuel fresh scrutiny of Nigeria’s social intervention programmes, particularly the systems used to identify beneficiaries and track billions of naira disbursed to vulnerable households.
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