Cash Transfer Office Rejects Auditor-General’s N33.75bn Fraud Allegation

The National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) has rejected allegations arising from the Auditor-General for the Federation’s report that the Federal Government failed to provide sufficient evidence that N33.75bn in electronic cash transfers reached genuine beneficiaries.

The NCTO, in a statement described the interpretation of the audit observations as materially incomplete, insisting that the funds were transferred through the established payment system to beneficiaries captured in the National Beneficiary Register.

The office also disputed the allegation that its officials obstructed auditors from accessing REMITA payment records, saying documentary evidence, including emails showing the transmission of beneficiary data and payment information, was available for independent verification.

The Auditor-General’s findings were earlier reported by LEADERSHIP on September 5, 2026, following the publication of the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

According to the report, the audit reviewed transactions of the NCTO for the 2023 financial year and raised eight audit queries involving billions of naira.

The auditors reported that N33.751billlion was electronically transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states. However, they said the payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary details, while the REMITA statement required to reconcile the recipients with names on the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not presented.

Responding, the NCTO said the audit observation should not be interpreted as a finding that N33.75billion was stolen, diverted or lost.

“An audit query or observation is not, by itself, a final determination that public funds were stolen, diverted, misappropriated or lost,” the office said, adding that audit observations ordinarily require management responses, examination of supporting records and reconciliation before definitive conclusions can be reached.

On the disputed transfers, the NCTO said payments were made electronically to identified beneficiaries through the programme’s established payment architecture.

It explained that beneficiaries were not paid solely on the basis of names submitted for payment, but through records maintained in the programme’s information systems and subjected to identification, validation and authorisation controls.

The office said the electronic nature of the programme meant that millions of beneficiary records were maintained digitally and did not have to be physically printed and attached to individual payment vouchers where the underlying electronic audit trail was available.

“Beneficiary records underlying the transfers are maintained electronically and can be subjected to data-level reconciliation against the corresponding electronic payment records,” it said.

The NCTO said it also had documentary evidence showing that the National Beneficiary Register was transmitted to the audit team.

According to the office, the 2023 NBR beneficiary list was sent to the auditors by email on April 18, 2025, at 11:48am, while the 2024 and 2025 NBR records were transmitted on April 21, 2026, at 6:25pm.

It said the emails contained identifiable dates and times and could be independently verified, rejecting any suggestion that it deliberately withheld beneficiary records from the auditors.

The office also challenged the allegation that its accounts officials obstructed access to the REMITA statement, saying the project accountant retained email correspondence showing that the relevant REMITA payment report was shared with the audit team.

It said the correspondence would be made available alongside its clarification to facilitate independent verification.

“The existence of contemporaneous email evidence showing transmission of the REMITA report provides an objective documentary basis for establishing whether the payment information was made available during the audit process,” the NCTO said.

The office therefore argued that the allegation of deliberate obstruction was inconsistent with the documentary correspondence in its possession.

It also maintained that the failure to physically print millions of beneficiary records and attach them to individual vouchers could not reasonably be interpreted as evidence that the records did not exist.

On the Auditor-General’s query concerning 101 payments totalling N4.62billion from the S&S/IDA Cash Book, the audit had stated that the corresponding payment vouchers were not presented for examination and recommended that the funds be accounted for or recovered and remitted to the Treasury.

However, the NCTO said it maintained paid vouchers and supporting records relating to its expenditures.

It said the audit observation aggregated the 101 transactions into the N4.62billion figure without providing sufficient transaction-level details to enable management to identify precisely which vouchers were allegedly omitted.

The office requested a schedule showing the individual payments, voucher numbers, dates, payees, descriptions and amounts to enable each transaction to be reconciled with its corresponding voucher and supporting documents.

The NCTO also rejected the characterisation of N350.18m released to states for beneficiary enrolment as unaccounted funds.

The Auditor-General had reported that of the N3.09bn released to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries, supporting documents covering N2.74billion were provided, leaving N350.18million without adequate documentation.

The audit also cited missing beneficiary lists, photographs, attendance registers, enrolment reports and acknowledgements.

The NCTO said it was resubmitting the relevant evidence and remained available for transaction-by-transaction reconciliation.

The office also disputed the characterisation of N36.74billion in payments as improperly made because they were not subjected to a prepayment audit.

The Auditor-General reportedly found that 215 vouchers totalling N36.74billion were paid in December 2023 without internal audit or prepayment checks, with the Internal Audit Unit instead conducting post-payment checks.

The NCTO said the applicable World Bank Project Appraisal Document provided for an internal audit arrangement that did not adopt the conventional prepayment audit system.

According to the office, the document required the Internal Audit Unit to conduct traditional compliance and non-financial or operational audits “without adopting the prepayment audit system.”

It , therefore, argued that the use of post-payment audits under the approved project framework should not, without the necessary context, be presented as evidence that the N36.74billion was improperly paid.

On the N89.51million store and procurement transactions queried by the Auditor-General, the NCTO said the amount comprised multiple transactions and should not be treated as one homogeneous expenditure.

The office also disputed any suggestion that N280.421million advanced to Payment Service Providers remained outstanding.

According to the NCTO, the advances were made against insurance bonds associated with the contracts.

It said the World Bank subsequently reviewed the procurement and underlying activities, after which the contracts were cancelled because of compliance concerns and because the activities were no longer required following the restructuring of the project.

The NCTO said the advances were subsequently recovered from the payment service providers, adding that REMITA and reference documents evidencing the refunds were available.

It maintained that questions concerning the original procurement process should be separated from whether the funds ultimately constituted a financial loss to the government.

The office further said N393.71million was returned by nine state cash transfer units that could not conduct planned activities because of insecurity, disasters and other operational constraints, resulting in refunds of unused funds.

Contrary to claims that it did not provide evidence that the funds were credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the NCTO said REMITA documentation showing the refunds had been provided for verification.

On the N17.422million procurement observation relating to diesel, the office said the supply was undertaken through a company or service provider and that relevant vouchers and supporting documents were available and had been presented or provided for examination.

The NCTO said it welcomed scrutiny of its activities but urged caution in interpreting audit observations.

It argued that a request for additional documents did not, by itself, establish that money was missing; that electronically maintained beneficiary records should not be treated as nonexistent merely because they were not printed; and that recovered advances should not be presented as outstanding financial losses.

The office also maintained that refunds supported by electronic payment evidence should first be reconciled before the underlying amounts are described as unaccounted for.

The NCTO said it remained committed to transparency and would continue to cooperate with the Auditor-General and other oversight institutions.

It urged the media and the public to distinguish between audit observations requiring management responses and reconciliation and established findings of fraud, diversion, misappropriation or loss of public funds.