The Auditor-General for the Federation has raised concerns over the Federal Government’s handling of N33.75bn disbursed as cash transfers to more than 3.29 million households in 2023.
The concerns were contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The audit, which focused on the National Cash Transfer Office in Abuja, examined transactions carried out during the 2023 financial year.
According to the report, N33.751bn was electronically transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states under the government’s social intervention programme.
However, auditors said the National Cash Transfer Office failed to provide adequate records to confirm that the funds were received by legitimate beneficiaries.
The auditors noted that payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary information, while a Remita statement that could have been used to match recipients with names on the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not provided.
The absence of the records, the auditors said, prevented them from confirming the identities of those who received the funds.
The audit team also reported difficulties in obtaining the required payment records, stating that officials at the cash transfer office denied or obstructed access to the Remita statement.
The Auditor-General warned that the weaknesses created the possibility of payments being made to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries, potentially resulting in the loss of public funds.
The report recommended that the National Programme Manager appear before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the N33.75bn and provide evidence that the intended beneficiaries received the money.
It further advised that any portion of the funds that could not be satisfactorily accounted for should be recovered and returned to the Treasury.
The audit also uncovered other financial control problems at the National Cash Transfer Office.
One of the findings involved N36.74bn paid through 215 vouchers in December 2023 without the required pre-payment audit. The transactions covered social safety, institutional development and output-based activities.
Auditors said the Internal Audit Unit only reviewed the transactions after payment had been made, contrary to existing financial regulations. They warned that the arrangement exposed the funds to possible diversion or misuse.
Another N4.62bn was paid through 101 transactions from the office’s S&S/IDA Cash Book, but the relevant payment vouchers were not provided for examination.
The auditors also questioned N350.18m allocated to state coordinators for enrolling unbanked beneficiaries.
Although documentation was provided for N2.74bn out of N3.09bn distributed to 34 states, the remaining N350.18m could not be properly accounted for. The documents presented also lacked sufficient information on how the funds were spent.
Missing supporting records included beneficiary lists, enrolment reports, signed attendance sheets, photographs of activities and acknowledgements from recipients.
The audit recommended that the N350.18m be recovered and paid into the Treasury if the expenditure could not be justified.
The office also came under scrutiny over N393.71m in unused enrolment funds returned by nine states. Although the National Cash Transfer Office said the money was refunded because insecurity, disasters and other circumstances prevented enrolment activities, auditors said there was no evidence showing that the funds were credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
In another case, the office paid N280.42m to payment service providers as a 30 per cent mobilisation for a platform to distribute cash to beneficiaries.
The auditors said the advance was made without an Advance Payment Guarantee. They also found no evidence of proper procurement procedures, including pre-qualification documents, bidding records and technical and financial evaluations.
The report therefore recommended recovery of the N280.42m.
The audit further identified N89.51m worth of store items that were purchased and paid for but were not recorded in the office’s store ledger. Relevant Store Receipt and Store Issue Vouchers were also missing, while the ledger had reportedly not been updated since 2020.
The procurement of diesel also attracted criticism, with N17.42m reportedly given to staff as cash advances instead of being processed through contract awards.
According to the auditors, the procurement breached the applicable threshold, while the diesel purchased could not be traced to the office’s stores. The procurement method was also estimated to have cost the government N2.18m in Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax revenue.
The Auditor-General said management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to respond to all eight audit queries raised over the transactions.
The findings come amid renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s social intervention programmes, which have been relied upon to support vulnerable households, particularly following the removal of the petrol subsidy in 2023.
The World Bank-backed National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up has been a major source of funding, with Nigeria drawing about $744.61m from the $800m facility approved in December 2021.
The programme was initially designed to provide N5,000 monthly to selected households but was later revised under the Tinubu administration to N25,000 monthly for three months, with a target of reaching 15 million households.
The implementation of the programme has faced controversy over delays, beneficiary verification and allegations of financial misconduct.
The Federal Government has since introduced measures involving Bank Verification Numbers and National Identification Numbers to strengthen beneficiary verification and reduce leakages.
The latest audit findings are expected to increase pressure on the government to demonstrate that funds allocated to support vulnerable Nigerians are reaching the intended beneficiaries.
