N33.75bn Cash Transfer: Auditor-General Says Payments to 3.29m Nigerians Cannot Be Verified
- The Auditor-General says there is not enough evidence to prove that N33.75 billion in cash transfers reached 3.29 million genuine beneficiaries in 2023
- Auditors said missing beneficiary records and REMITA statements prevented them from verifying the payments
- The NCTO was asked to account for the funds or refund any amount that cannot be properly verified
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Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering energy, MSMEs, technology, banking and the economy.
The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) has raised concerns over the payment of N33.75 billion in cash transfers to about 3.29 million vulnerable households in 2023, saying there is inadequate evidence to confirm that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The concern was contained in the OAuGF’s 2024 annual report on non-compliance and internal control weaknesses in federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), obtained by TheCable.
Source: UGC
The report, submitted to the Clerk of the National Assembly by the Auditor-General for the Federation on July 17, 2026, examined transactions at the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) in Abuja for the 2023 financial year.
Auditors raised eight queries involving billions of naira and identified significant weaknesses in the office’s financial control processes.
Auditors could not verify beneficiaries
One of the major findings, listed on page 90 of the report, concerns electronic cash transfers totalling N33.751 billion made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states.
The beneficiaries were reportedly selected from the National Social Register (NSR) and enrolled in the National Beneficiary Register (NBR).
However, auditors said the payment vouchers did not provide complete information about those who received the funds.
They also noted that the NCTO failed to provide a REMITA statement showing the beneficiaries who were paid compared with those listed on the NSR and NBR.
According to the auditors, the absence of the records made it impossible to properly authenticate the transactions or establish whether the recipients were legitimate beneficiaries.
The audit team further said its attempts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were blocked by accounts staff of the NCTO, which hindered the audit process.
The auditors linked the discrepancies to weaknesses in the NCTO’s internal control system, warning that such lapses could expose public funds to losses and result in payments being made to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries.
NCTO asked to account for funds
The report stated that the audit findings remained valid because management had not responded to the issues raised or implemented the recommended corrective measures.
The auditors recommended that the manager responsible for the national programme be directed to account for the N33.75 billion before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly and provide evidence that the money was actually received by the intended beneficiaries.
Source: Twitter
They further advised that any portion of the funds that could not be properly accounted for should be recovered and returned to the national treasury.
The audit team also requested that evidence confirming receipt of the payments by beneficiaries be submitted to the Public Accounts Committee.
It warned that failure to provide the required documentation should attract sanctions for irregular payments under paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations (2009).
Atiku criticises Tinubu's cash transfer programme
Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier highlighted Atiku Abubakar's criticism of the Tinubu administration's household cash transfer program, labeling it an "audio palliative."
His statements follow troubling audit findings regarding N33.75 billion meant for vulnerable households, raising serious questions about the funds' delivery.
Source: Legit.ng
