By Taibat Ummi Yakubu

The Auditor-General for the Federation has raised serious questions over the disbursement of N33.75 billion in cash transfers to more than 3.29 million households, saying the Federal Government failed to provide enough documentation to prove that the money actually reached genuine beneficiaries.

The red flag is contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, which examined financial transactions at the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) in Abuja during the 2023 financial year.

The report was transmitted to the National Assembly on July 17, 2026.

According to the audit findings, electronic payments amounting to N33.751 billion were made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries registered under the National Social Register and the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states.

However, the auditors said they were unable to independently establish the identities of those who received the funds.

The problem, according to the report, was largely linked to incomplete information on payment vouchers and the failure of the NCTO to provide records needed to reconcile the payments with the official beneficiary registers.

At the centre of the audit query was the absence of a Remita statement showing the names of beneficiaries who actually received the payments and matching them against those listed in the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register.

The auditors said the missing records made it impossible to properly authenticate the transactions or determine whether the recipients were legitimate beneficiaries.

“This hindered the authentication of the payments and made it difficult to ascertain whether the beneficiaries who received the funds were genuine,” the auditors stated.

The audit report also raised concerns over the response of officials at the cash transfer office when auditors sought access to the relevant payment records.

According to the report, attempts to obtain the Remita statement were unsuccessful after accounts staff allegedly denied auditors access to the records.

“All efforts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were obstructed and denied by NCTO accounts staff, thereby frustrating the audit process,” the report stated.

The inability to verify the beneficiaries, the auditors warned, created the possibility that public funds could have been paid to ineligible or fictitious persons, potentially resulting in financial losses to the government.

The Auditor-General also faulted NCTO management for failing to respond to the audit query, stressing that the findings would remain unresolved until the agency implemented the recommended corrective measures.

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Auditor-General Demands Accountability

The Auditor-General has recommended that the official responsible for managing the national cash transfer programme be summoned before the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly to account for the N33.75 billion.

The official is expected to provide documentary evidence showing that the funds were received by the intended beneficiaries.

The auditors further recommended that where the NCTO is unable to satisfactorily account for the disbursement, the money should be recovered and returned to the national treasury.

They also demanded that evidence confirming receipt of the payments by beneficiaries be presented to the Public Accounts Committee.

The report warned that failure to produce the required records could attract sanctions for irregular payments under paragraph 3106 of the Financial Regulations, 2009.

Financial Rules Cited

The audit team said the lapses violated existing government financial regulations governing the payment and documentation of public funds.

It cited paragraph 613, which requires government paying officers to establish that recipients of public money are authorised to receive such funds and, where necessary, provide proof of identity.

The auditors also referred to paragraph 603(i), which requires payment vouchers to contain complete details of the transaction or service involved, alongside supporting documents necessary for verification.

The N33.75 billion cash-transfer issue was only one of eight audit queries raised against the National Cash Transfer Office.

The other queries reportedly involved billions of naira and exposed weaknesses in the agency's financial management and internal control systems.

The wider audit report also highlighted several financial management problems across federal ministries, departments and agencies, including unsupported payments, cash advances that were not retired, government revenues that were not remitted and contracts considered irregular.

The latest findings could put renewed scrutiny on Nigeria's social investment programmes, particularly the systems used to identify beneficiaries and track the movement of public funds intended to support vulnerable households.

For the auditors, the central issue is not simply whether money was transferred electronically, but whether the government can produce credible records showing who received the money, whether they were eligible and whether the N33.75 billion reached the people the programme was designed to support.