NCTO Rejects N33.75bn Fraud Claims, Says Cash Transfers Are Verifiable.

The National Cash Transfer Office has rejected claims that the Federal Government could not account for N33.75bn in electronic cash transfers, arguing that the Auditor-General’s observations have been interpreted without sufficient context.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the NCTO said the funds were transferred through the programme’s established payment system to beneficiaries listed in the National Beneficiary Register.

The clarification followed findings contained in the Auditor-General for the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

According to the audit report, N33.751bn was recorded as having been transferred electronically to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states during the 2023 financial year.

Auditors, however, raised concerns that payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary details and that the REMITA statement needed to reconcile recipients with names in the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not made available for examination.

The NCTO rejected any interpretation of the observation as evidence that the funds were 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.

It explained that beneficiaries were processed through electronic records maintained within the programme’s information systems and subjected to identification, validation and authorisation procedures before payments were made.

According to the office, the electronic nature of the programme means millions of beneficiary records are stored digitally and do not necessarily need to be printed and attached to individual payment vouchers where a verifiable electronic audit trail exists.

The NCTO also disputed allegations that its officials prevented auditors from accessing relevant payment records.

It said the 2023 National Beneficiary Register was emailed to the audit team on April 18, 2025, while records covering 2024 and 2025 were transmitted on April 21, 2026.

The office further said its project accountant had retained email correspondence showing that relevant REMITA payment reports were shared with the audit team.

Beyond the N33.75bn transfers, the NCTO responded to several other financial queries raised by the Auditor-General.

One of the observations involved 101 payments amounting to N4.62bn from the S&S/IDA Cash Book, for which auditors said corresponding paid vouchers were not presented.

The Auditor-General recommended that the funds be accounted for or recovered and remitted to the Treasury.

NCTO said it maintains paid vouchers and supporting documentation for its expenditures but argued that the audit observation grouped 101 transactions together without providing enough transaction-level details for the office to identify the specific vouchers in question.

It said it had requested a breakdown showing payment dates, voucher numbers, payees, descriptions and amounts to allow each transaction to be reconciled with its supporting documentation.

The office also addressed concerns over N350.18m linked to beneficiary enrolment activities in the states.

The audit report said N3.09bn was released to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries, with documentation provided for N2.74bn, leaving N350.18m without adequate supporting records.

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

The office also rejected the characterisation of N36.74bn in payments as improperly processed because they were not subjected to prepayment audits.

According to the Auditor-General, 215 vouchers worth N36.74bn were paid in December 2023 without internal audit or prepayment checks, with post-payment reviews conducted instead.

NCTO argued that the World Bank Project Appraisal Document governing the programme provided for an internal audit framework that did not adopt the conventional prepayment audit system.

It said the use of post-payment audits under the approved project structure should therefore not automatically be treated as evidence of improper payment.

On N89.51m in store and procurement transactions, the office said the amount represented multiple transactions and should not be assessed as a single expenditure.

The NCTO also said N280.42m advanced to Payment Service Providers had been recovered after contracts were cancelled following a World Bank review and restructuring of the project.

According to the office, REMITA and other reference documents confirming the refunds are available for verification.

It also said N393.71m was returned by nine state cash transfer units that were unable to carry out planned activities due to insecurity, disasters and other operational challenges.

The NCTO maintained that REMITA records confirming the refunds had been provided and should be reconciled before the funds are described as unaccounted for.

The office further responded to an N17.42m procurement observation relating to diesel, saying the supplies were handled through a service provider and that the relevant vouchers and supporting records were available for examination.

NCTO said it welcomed scrutiny of its activities but cautioned against treating unresolved audit observations as established cases of fraud or financial loss.

It maintained that requests for additional documentation do not automatically mean funds are missing, while electronically stored beneficiary records should not be considered nonexistent simply because they were not physically attached to payment vouchers.

The office said it would continue to cooperate with the Auditor-General and other oversight institutions while urging the media and the public to distinguish between audit queries requiring clarification and confirmed findings of fraud, diversion or misappropriation of public funds.