The management of the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) has rejected suggestions that an Auditor-General’s query over N33.75 billion disbursed through the national cash transfer programme in 2023 amounts to an allegation of fraud against the agency.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the NCTO said an audit query or observation should not automatically be interpreted as proof that public funds were stolen, diverted, misappropriated or lost.
The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) had raised concerns over the N33.75 billion transferred to 3.29 million vulnerable households in 2023, saying there was insufficient evidence to establish that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The finding was contained in the OAuGF’s 2024 annual report on non-compliance and internal control weaknesses in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government, obtained by TheCable on Saturday.
Responding to the report, NCTO said it respected the constitutional mandate of the OAuGF but considered it necessary to clarify the impression created by the audit observation concerning the electronic cash transfers.
The office explained that the payments were processed electronically through the programme’s established payment system and were made to beneficiaries who had been identified and verified as eligible.
NCTO said its payment process is governed by “stringent beneficiary identification, validation, authorization and payment controls”.
“Beneficiaries are not paid merely on the basis of names submitted for payment. The payment process operates against beneficiary records maintained within the programme’s beneficiary information systems and payment records and is subject to multiple levels of verification before payment processing,” the statement reads.
The office said the programme’s payment controls were designed to prevent funds from being paid outside the approved beneficiary population.
“NCTO therefore strongly rejects any impression that the N33.751 billion represents payments made to unidentified or unverifiable persons.”
According to NCTO, the beneficiary information supporting the transfers is stored electronically and can be reconciled with the corresponding electronic payment records.
“Given that the programme operates at national scale and involves millions of beneficiary records, these records are appropriately maintained and transmitted electronically,” NCTO said.
“It would be neither practical nor necessary to print millions of beneficiary records and physically attach them to individual payment vouchers where the complete electronic beneficiary and payment audit trail is available for verification.”
There Is Documentary Evidence
NCTO said it has records showing that the beneficiary information requested for the audit was transmitted to the auditors.
“The Office has retained email correspondence establishing that the 2023 National Beneficiary Register (NBR) beneficiary list was transmitted to the auditors on Friday, 18 April 2025 at 11:48 a.m,” it said.
“NCTO also has documentary email evidence showing that the 2024 and 2025 NBR records were transmitted to the audit team on Tuesday, 21 April 2026 at 6:25 p.m.
“Copies of these email correspondences will accompany this public clarification as documentary evidence of the transmission of beneficiary records to the audit team.
“These are contemporaneous electronic records carrying identifiable dates and times of transmission and are available for independent verification.”
The cash transfer office therefore disputed any suggestion that beneficiary information needed to verify recipients was deliberately withheld from the audit process.
NCTO also challenged the claim that the REMITA payment statement was not provided to the auditors. It said the project accountant had email evidence showing that the relevant REMITA payment report was sent to the audit team.
“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,” it said.
NCTO argued that the absence of millions of printed beneficiary records attached physically to individual payment vouchers should not be interpreted as an absence of evidence identifying beneficiaries or confirming payments, since the information exists electronically and was transmitted to the auditors.
“NCTO therefore strongly rejects any interpretation suggesting that N33.751 billion was paid to unidentified beneficiaries or that the Office deliberately concealed beneficiary and payment records from the auditors,” it said.
The office maintained that the records available to its management show that both beneficiary information and REMITA payment data were transmitted to the audit team.
It said the records remain available for independent verification and reconciliation.
