N33.75bn cash transfer query deepens as NCTO challenges audit findings

The management of the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) has challenged an audit finding questioning the disbursement of N33.75 billion to 3.29 million vulnerable households in 2023, insisting that the query does not establish fraud or prove that public funds were diverted.

The dispute followed the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation’s (OAuGF) 2024 annual report on non-compliance and internal control weaknesses across federal ministries, departments and agencies.

The report reportedly raised concerns over the absence of sufficient evidence showing that the N33.75 billion in cash transfers reached genuine beneficiaries.

However, NCTO, in a statement on Thursday, argued that an audit observation is not a final determination that funds were stolen, misappropriated or lost.

More significantly, the agency challenged the apparent suggestion that the absence of millions of printed beneficiary records amounted to a failure of accountability.

NCTO said the transfers were made electronically through an established payment architecture, supported by beneficiary identification, validation, authorisation and payment controls.

According to the agency, beneficiaries are matched against records contained in its electronic beneficiary information systems before payments are processed, with multiple verification layers designed to prevent payments outside the approved beneficiary population.

The agency said its records could be independently reconciled with electronic payment data, stressing that printing millions of beneficiary records and attaching them to individual payment vouchers would be impractical where a complete digital audit trail exists.

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But the key issue in the audit dispute appears to be whether those electronic records were actually made available to auditors when required.

The office said it possesses email correspondence showing that the 2023 National Beneficiary Register was transmitted to the audit team on April 18, 2025, while the 2024 and 2025 registers were reportedly transmitted on April 21, 2026.

It also disputed the auditor’s reported claim that the relevant REMITA payment statement was unavailable, saying its project accountant retained email evidence showing that the payment report had been sent to the audit team.

NCTO said the correspondence and electronic records provide a documentary trail that can be independently verified and reconciled against the N33.751 billion disbursement.

The controversy therefore shifts the central question from whether beneficiary records existed to whether the records and payment evidence were adequately accessed, examined and reconciled during the audit.

NCTO maintained that the available documentation demonstrates that beneficiary and REMITA payment information was transmitted to auditors and strongly rejected any suggestion that it deliberately concealed records or paid unidentified beneficiaries.

The competing positions now place verification of the electronic audit trail, rather than allegations alone, at the centre of the dispute over the multibillion-naira cash transfer programme.