Agency disputes Auditor-General’s findings, cites electronic beneficiary records, REMITA reports and recovered advances
The National Cash Transfer Office has pushed back against allegations arising from an audit report that questioned the Federal Government’s ability to demonstrate that N33.75bn in electronic cash transfers reached genuine beneficiaries, insisting that the transactions were processed through approved systems and backed by electronic records.
The NCTO said the interpretation of the Auditor-General for the Federation’s findings was materially incomplete and did not sufficiently reflect the explanations and documentary evidence available from the agency.
In a detailed response made available to our correspondent on Wednesday, the agency said the funds in question were transferred through the programme’s established payment architecture to beneficiaries captured in the National Beneficiary Register.
The controversy followed the publication of the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The findings, earlier reported on September 5, 2026, covered transactions of the NCTO for the 2023 financial year and contained eight audit queries involving billions of naira.
The Auditor-General’s report stated that N33.751bn was electronically transferred to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries across 35 states.
However, auditors raised concerns that payment vouchers did not contain complete beneficiary information and that the REMITA statement required to reconcile the recipients with names contained in the National Social Register and National Beneficiary Register was not presented.
The NCTO rejected the suggestion that the audit observation amounted to proof that the N33.75bn had been 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 agency said.
According to the office, audit observations ordinarily require management responses, examination of supporting records and reconciliation before definitive conclusions can be reached.
Beneficiary records were electronic, NCTO says
Addressing the central issue, the NCTO said beneficiaries were not paid merely on the basis of names submitted for payment.
Rather, it explained that beneficiary information was maintained within the programme’s information systems and subjected to identification, validation and authorisation controls before payments were made.
The agency argued that the electronic structure of the programme meant that millions of beneficiary records were maintained digitally and therefore did not necessarily have to be physically printed and attached to individual payment vouchers where an electronic audit trail existed.
“Beneficiary records underlying the transfers are maintained electronically and can be subjected to data-level reconciliation against the corresponding electronic payment records,” the office said.
The NCTO further stated that documentary evidence existed to show that the National Beneficiary Register had been transmitted to the audit team.
It said the 2023 NBR beneficiary list was sent to 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.
The agency said the emails contained identifiable dates and times that could be independently verified, rejecting any suggestion that officials deliberately withheld beneficiary records.
NCTO denies blocking REMITA records
The office also challenged the allegation that its accounts officials obstructed auditors from accessing REMITA payment records.
According to the agency, 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 together with its formal 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 agency consequently argued that any claim of deliberate obstruction was inconsistent with the documentary correspondence in its possession.
It also maintained that the absence of millions of beneficiary records from physical payment vouchers should not be interpreted to mean that such records did not exist.
NCTO seeks details on N4.62bn queried payments
The agency also responded to an audit query concerning 101 payments amounting to N4.62bn from the S&S/IDA Cash Book.
The Auditor-General had reported that the corresponding paid vouchers were not presented for examination and recommended that the funds be accounted for, recovered and remitted to the Treasury.
The NCTO, however, said it maintains paid vouchers and supporting expenditure records.
According to the office, the audit observation aggregated the 101 transactions into a single N4.62bn figure without providing sufficient transaction-level information to enable management to determine precisely which vouchers were allegedly not presented.
The agency has therefore requested a detailed schedule containing the individual payments, voucher numbers, dates, payees, descriptions and amounts.
It said the information would enable each transaction to be matched with its corresponding voucher and supporting documentation.
Agency disputes N350.18m enrolment documentation gap
The NCTO also rejected the description of N350.18m released to states for the enrolment of beneficiaries as unaccounted funds.
The Auditor-General had reported that N3.09bn was released to states for the enrolment of unbanked beneficiaries, with supporting documents covering N2.74bn made available, leaving N350.18m without adequate documentation.
The audit cited missing beneficiary lists, photographs, attendance registers, enrolment reports and acknowledgements.
The NCTO said it was resubmitting relevant documentation and remained available to undertake a transaction-by-transaction reconciliation of the funds.
World Bank framework cited over N36.74bn payments
Another major point of disagreement concerns N36.74bn in payments made in December 2023.
According to the audit findings, 215 vouchers totalling N36.74bn were paid without internal audit or prepayment checks. The Internal Audit Unit instead conducted checks after payment.
The NCTO disputed the suggestion that this automatically rendered the payments improper.
It 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 undertake traditional compliance and non-financial or operational audits “without adopting the prepayment audit system”.
The agency therefore argued that the use of post-payment audit within the approved project framework should not, without the relevant context, be presented as evidence that the N36.74bn was improperly paid.
NCTO says N280.42m advances were recovered
The agency also disputed questions surrounding N280.421m advanced to Payment Service Providers.
It said the advances were made against insurance bonds attached to the relevant contracts.
According to the NCTO, the World Bank subsequently reviewed the procurement and underlying activities before the contracts were cancelled over compliance concerns and because the activities were no longer required following the restructuring of the project.
The office said the advances were subsequently recovered from the payment service providers and that REMITA and reference documents evidencing the refunds were available.
It argued that questions about the original procurement process should be distinguished from whether the money ultimately constituted a financial loss to the government.
N393.71m refunded by states, agency says
The NCTO further said nine state cash transfer units returned N393.71m after they were unable to conduct planned activities because of insecurity, disasters and other operational challenges.
According to the office, the refunds represented unused funds rather than financial losses.
The agency disputed the suggestion that it failed to provide evidence that the refunded money was credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
It said REMITA documentation showing the refunds had been made was available for verification.
Diesel procurement also queried
On the N17.422m procurement observation relating to diesel, the NCTO said the supply was undertaken through a company or service provider and that relevant payment vouchers and supporting documents existed.
The agency said the documents had either been presented or made available for examination.
NCTO calls for distinction between audit queries and proven losses
The cash transfer office said it welcomed scrutiny of its activities but urged caution in interpreting audit observations, particularly where reconciliation and documentary verification were still possible.
It said, “a request for additional documents does not, by itself, establish that money is missing; that electronically maintained beneficiary records should not be treated as nonexistent merely because they were not printed; and that a recovered advance should not be presented as an outstanding financial loss”.
The NCTO also maintained that refunds supported by electronic payment evidence should first be reconciled before the underlying amounts are described as unaccounted for.
The agency 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.