FG Can’t Account For ₦33.75bn” — Auditor-General Raises Alarm Over Cash Transfers To Vulnerable Nigerians

The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) has raised concerns over the inability of the Federal Government to provide sufficient records verifying the disbursement of ₦33.75 billion to 3,295,207 households across 35 states under its social intervention programme in 2023.

According to Ireporter Online, the disclosure was contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.

The audit focused on transactions carried out by the National Cash Transfer Office (NTCO) in Abuja during the 2023 financial year and identified several weaknesses in the agency’s financial management and documentation processes.

The Auditor-General’s report stated that the ₦33.751 billion was electronically transferred to households and beneficiaries selected from the National Social Register (NSR) and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register (NBR) across 35 states.

However, auditors said they were unable to establish whether the funds were received by the intended beneficiaries because the documentation submitted for verification was incomplete.

The report noted that the payment vouchers did not contain comprehensive details of the beneficiaries, while the Remita statements required to reconcile the names of recipients with those on the NSR and NBR were not made available.

Auditors further alleged that efforts to obtain access to the relevant Remita records were obstructed by accounts staff of the NTCO, making it difficult to authenticate the payments.

The report consequently raised concerns over the possibility of payments being made to fictitious or ineligible beneficiaries and warned of potential losses to government funds.

The Auditor-General recommended that the National Programme Manager of the NTCO appear before the relevant Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to explain the expenditure and provide documentary evidence confirming that the funds reached the intended beneficiaries.

It further recommended that any amount that cannot be satisfactorily accounted for should be recovered and returned to the government’s Treasury. The report also noted that the NTCO management did not respond to the audit query.

The audit identified several other financial control issues within the agency. One of them involved ₦36.744 billion paid through 215 vouchers in December 2023 without undergoing the mandatory prepayment audit by the Internal Audit Unit.

According to the report, the payments were only subjected to internal audit checks after the transactions had already been completed, a process the Auditor-General said exposed public funds to possible misapplication or diversion.

Auditors also queried 101 transactions valued at ₦4.616 billion because the corresponding paid vouchers were not provided for examination. The report recommended that officials account for the funds or recover any amount that could not be properly justified.

Another finding concerned approximately ₦3.09 billion released for the enrolment of beneficiaries without bank accounts. While supporting documents were provided for about ₦2.74 billion distributed to 34 states, auditors said ₦350.18 million could not be adequately accounted for.

The report also stated that some supporting documents, including beneficiary lists, attendance registers, photographs, enrolment reports and acknowledgements from recipients, were unavailable.

The Auditor-General therefore recommended that the ₦350.18 million be recovered if the responsible officials could not provide satisfactory explanations and documentation.

Auditors also examined ₦393.71 million reportedly refunded by nine State Cash Transfer Units after planned enrolment exercises were not conducted because of insecurity, disasters and other circumstances.

Although the NTCO claimed the unused funds were returned to the Treasury in 2023, auditors said no sufficient evidence was provided to confirm that the money was credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Another query involved ₦280.42 million paid as mobilisation fees to Payment Service Providers contracted to facilitate transfers to beneficiaries. The payment represented a 30 per cent advance, but auditors said it was made without an Advance Payment Guarantee.

The procurement process for engaging the service providers was also questioned, as auditors said the relevant files did not contain adequate evidence of pre-qualification, bidding, or technical and financial evaluation.

The report warned that the deficiencies created a risk of government funds being paid for services that might not be delivered and recommended recovery of the amount where necessary.

The audit further revealed that goods valued at ₦89.51 million purchased by the NTCO were not recorded in its store ledger. Auditors said the relevant payment vouchers lacked the Store Receipt Vouchers and Store Issue Vouchers required to track the movement of the items.

The report also noted that the agency’s store ledger had not been updated since 2020.

In another finding, auditors questioned ₦17.42 million spent on diesel through cash advances issued to staff members. They said purchases above the ₦200,000 procurement threshold should have followed the appropriate contract procedure.

The auditors also reported that the purchased items could not be physically traced or verified in the agency’s stores and estimated that the procurement process may have resulted in the government losing about ₦2.18 million in Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax.

Across the eight major findings, the Auditor-General stated that the management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to respond to the audit queries.

The report consequently called for the responsible officials to provide explanations and supporting documents and directed that funds that cannot be satisfactorily accounted for should be recovered and returned to the Federal Government’s Treasury.