By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
FRESH SCRUTINY has emerged over Nigeria’s social protection spending after the Auditor-General for the Federation said the disbursement of N33.751 billion to more than 3.29 million households in 2023 could not be verified against genuine beneficiaries.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the concerns were contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance and Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (NICWM), which examined transactions of the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), Abuja, for the 2023 financial year.
The report, transmitted to the National Assembly on July 17, 2026, said electronic transfers totalling N33.751 billion were made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries listed on the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states.
However, auditors said the National Cash Transfer Office failed to provide sufficient records to establish the identities of recipients or reconcile the payments with the official beneficiary registers.
They said payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary details, while records required to verify the transfers were not made available.
The auditors specifically faulted the office for failing to produce a Remita statement showing beneficiaries who actually received the funds against those listed on the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register.
“This hindered the authentication of the payments and made it difficult to ascertain whether the beneficiaries who received the funds were genuine,” the auditors said.
The report also alleged that officials of the cash transfer office obstructed efforts to obtain the Remita records required for the audit.
“All efforts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were obstructed and denied by NCTO accounts staff, thereby frustrating the audit process,” the report stated.
The findings came as the Federal Government recently launched a $1 billion social protection programme aimed at shifting vulnerable Nigerians from temporary relief to lasting economic empowerment and self-reliance.
The Household Prosperity and Empowerment Social Protection Project, known as HOPE-SP, was launched at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja alongside four additional programmes aimed at strengthening the nation’s humanitarian response and poverty-reduction framework.
However, the latest audit report from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation said there was insufficient evidence to show that N33.75 billion in cash transfers intended for 3.29 million vulnerable households in 2023 reached genuine beneficiaries.
The auditors said the findings contravened the Financial Regulations 2009, which require payments to be made only to persons named in payment vouchers or their authorised representatives.
They cited paragraph 613, which requires paying officers to satisfy themselves that the person receiving a payment is authorised to do so and, where necessary, provide proof of identity.
The auditors also cited paragraph 603(i), which requires vouchers to contain full particulars of each service and be supported by relevant documents to enable payments to be verified.
State governors had in 2023, at a National Economic Council meeting, requested the disbandment of the register over concerns about its credibility and suggested that a new register be compiled for federal social intervention programmes.
However, the then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Sani Gwarzo, said although the register might not be as accurate as expected, it was a starting point that could be reviewed.
In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency.
The agency is domiciled under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The suspension came amid investigations into alleged corruption in the Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Ministry, which led to the suspension of the then minister, Beta Edu.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said poverty in Nigeria rose sharply despite a slowdown in inflation, with the national poverty rate reaching an estimated 64 per cent in 2025.
The bank disclosed this in its Nigeria Development Update for April 2026, titled “Nigeria’s Tomorrow Must Start Today: The Case for Early Childhood Development”, released in Abuja on Tuesday.
The report showed that the national poverty rate rose from 40 per cent in 2019 to 45 per cent in 2020, 47 per cent in 2021, 51 per cent in 2022, 56 per cent in 2023 and 61 per cent in 2024.
It was estimated at 64 per cent in 2025 and is projected to remain at 64 per cent in 2026 before falling to 61 per cent in 2027 and 59 per cent by 2028.
The number of Nigerians living in poverty also increased from about 80 million in 2019 to 95 million in 2020, 105 million in 2021, 115 million in 2022, 135 million in 2023 and 150 million in 2024.
The figure was projected at about 160 million in both 2025 and 2026 before declining gradually to 155 million in 2027 and 150 million by 2028.
The number of Nigerians living in extreme or ultra-poverty also rose substantially, from approximately 30 million in 2019 to about 78 million in 2025 and 2026.
The World Bank expects poverty to begin declining gradually as inflation eases and economic growth improves.
It projects average real GDP growth of 4.2 per cent between 2026 and 2028, supported by higher public investment, improved investor sentiment and structural reforms.
Inflation is also expected to moderate, with headline inflation projected to average 15 per cent in 2026 and fall to about 10.7 per cent by 2028.
Development expert and Executive Director of the Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity, Dr Umar Yakubu, said the Auditor-General’s report showed impunity among civil servants.
Yakubu said the findings on the National Cash Transfer Office had exposed the cost of opacity in public safety nets, where N33.75 billion in digital disbursements could not be verified against genuine beneficiaries.
“When administrative staff actively obstruct auditors from accessing Remita records and multi-billion-naira transactions bypass mandatory pre-audits,we are looking at institutionalised impunity that actively shields corruption from public scrutiny.
“This systemic failure underscores why technology-driven oversight, rigorous transparency indices like the Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) and independent verification frameworks are non-negotiable for public spending in Nigeria.
“Social intervention programmes cannot function as opaque conduits for unverified expenditures while vulnerable populations remain statistical justifications for leaked funds,” he said.
JKNewsMedia.com also reports that the Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, Dr Jackson Omenazu, described the Auditor-General’s inability to verify the cash transfers as a serious warning about the management of public resources.
The organisation demanded full disclosure of the N33.7 billion transfers before the government commits another $1 billion to social protection.
Omenazu said the Auditor-General’s constitutional responsibility to examine how public funds are received, disbursed and accounted for should not be frustrated by government officials.
“If public money cannot be independently audited, Nigerians have a legitimate right to ask: who is accountable for the money and where did it go?” he said.
The organisation called for the immediate publication of details of the N33.7 billion transfers, including beneficiaries, implementing agencies, amounts disbursed and the purpose of each payment.
It also demanded an independent forensic audit of the programme, with the findings made public, as well as unrestricted access for the Auditor-General and other constitutionally authorised oversight bodies to records relating to the cash transfers.
ISSJHR urged the government to suspend additional disbursements or expansion of similar programmes until the outstanding accountability questions are resolved.
It said that if the proposed $1 billion package proceeds, the government should establish safeguards including transparent procurement, beneficiary verification, independent monitoring and periodic public reporting.
The organisation also called for recovery and prosecution where investigations establish that public officials, contractors or beneficiaries misappropriated public funds.
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