Auditor-General Queries N33.75bn Transfers To 3.29m Households

The Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, has queried the federal government’s N33.75billion cash transfers to 3.29 million households, saying there was insufficient evidence to confirm that the funds reached genuine beneficiaries.

The query is contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies, following an audit of transactions of the National Cash Transfer Office for the 2023 financial year.

According to the report, a total of N33.751billion was transferred electronically to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries mined from the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states.

However, Chira said the audit could not establish whether the payments were made to the intended beneficiaries because the payment vouchers presented for examination did not contain complete beneficiary details.

He also said the Remita statement required to reconcile the payments with the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not made available to the auditors.

The Auditor-General noted that the absence of the relevant records hindered the authentication of beneficiaries and made it difficult to determine whether the recipients were genuine.

The report further stated that attempts by the auditors to obtain the necessary records were obstructed, with accounts staff of the National Cash Transfer Office denying access to some of the requested information.

Chira warned that the development exposed public funds to the risk of loss and raised the possibility of payments being made to ineligible or fictitious beneficiaries.

He recommended that the National Programme Manager of the National Cash Transfer Office should account to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly and provide evidence that the beneficiaries received the funds.

He added that where the funds could not be satisfactorily accounted for, they should be recovered and remitted to the Treasury.

The Auditor-General said the management of the National Cash Transfer Office failed to respond to the audit query.

The N33.75billion transfer was one of eight major issues raised by the Auditor-General against the office.

The audit also queried N36.744billion paid through 215 payment vouchers without evidence of pre-payment audit, while another N4.616billion involving 101 payments was made without payment vouchers.

The auditors further questioned N350.18million from N3.09billion disbursed to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries, saying the funds were not properly accounted for.

Another N393.71million returned from enrolment funds had no evidence showing that it was credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

The report also raised concerns over N280.42million paid as 30 per cent mobilisation to payment service providers without Advance Payment Guarantees and without evidence that due process requirements were followed.

In addition, N89.51million worth of store items was not entered in the relevant ledger, while N17.42million in diesel cash advances was found to have been improperly procured, resulting in N2.18million in foregone VAT and withholding tax.

The management of the National Cash Transfer Office reportedly failed to respond to all eight audit issues.

The development comes amid renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s social protection programmes and the management of funds meant to support vulnerable households.

Nigeria had also drawn an additional $208.29million from the World Bank’s $800m National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up, bringing cumulative disbursement to about $744.61million, representing 93.1 per cent of the facility.

The cash transfer programme, which initially provided N5,000 monthly to beneficiaries, was later revised under the administration of President Bola Tinubu to N25,000 monthly for three months, with an initial target of 15 million households.

The programme has, however, faced delays and controversies, including allegations surrounding the management of funds under former Humanitarian Affairs Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq, former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Betta Edu and the former National Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme Agency, Halima Shehu.

The federal government subsequently constituted a special panel led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to review the programme.

The government also partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Identity Management Commission to strengthen beneficiary verification through Bank Verification Numbers and National Identification Numbers.

In March 2026, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, said 9.2 million Nigerians had benefited from the Household Prosperity and Empowerment Cash Transfer Programme, with about N688billion disbursed over two years.

The World Bank had also reportedly stated in 2025 that only 37 per cent of targeted households had benefited from the programme.

The latest audit findings are likely to intensify calls for greater transparency in the management of Nigeria’s social intervention funds, particularly over the identification of beneficiaries and verification of payments.