FG Cannot Account for N33.75bn Cash Transfers to 3.2m Vulnerable Households — Auditor-General

The Federal Government has been unable to provide sufficient evidence to show that N33.75bn in cash transfers meant for more than 3.2 million vulnerable households reached genuine beneficiaries, according to the Auditor-General for the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report.

The report, which examined transactions at the National Cash Transfer Office (NTCO) for the 2023 financial year, said electronic payments totalling N33.751bn were made to beneficiaries across 35 states.

However, auditors said they could not properly verify the payments because the vouchers provided did not contain complete details of the beneficiaries.

They also said the Remita statement required to reconcile the payments with names on the National Social Register (NSR) and National Beneficiary Register (NBR) was not made available.

According to the report, the absence of the records “hindered the authentication of the payments” and made it difficult to establish whether the funds were received by genuine beneficiaries.

The auditors further alleged that attempts to obtain the Remita statement were unsuccessful, saying NTCO accounts staff obstructed and denied access to the records.

The Auditor-General warned that the shortcomings could expose public funds to the risk of being paid to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries.

The report recommended that the National Programme Manager should account for the N33.75bn before the National Assembly or recover the money and remit it to the Treasury.

The audit also flagged N36.74bn paid through 215 vouchers without evidence of a prepayment audit, warning that the funds could have been misapplied or diverted.

Another N4.616bn covered by 101 payments had no supporting vouchers, while N350.18m reportedly disbursed for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries across various states remained unaccounted for.

Auditors also questioned N393.71m reportedly returned by nine states, noting that there was no evidence showing that the money had been credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The report said NTCO management failed to respond to the audit queries raised on all eight issues.