The Auditor‑General says officials blocked access to payment records for a World Bank‑funded scheme meant to support low‑income families after fuel subsidy removal.
By Ebere Inyama
(Abuja, Nigeria) The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) has flagged ₦33.75 billion ($24.7m) in electronic cash transfers meant for more than 3.29 million vulnerable households in Nigeria.
Courtesy – NTA Network news @ Facebook.
Electronic transfers totaling ₦33.75bn ($24.7m) were reportedly made to 3,295,207 beneficiaries drawn from the National Social Register across 35 states in 2023, but the paid vouchers did not contain the details of the beneficiaries, according to the Auditor-General for the Federation’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government.
“All efforts to obtain access to the REMITA statement were obstructed and denied by officers of the National Cash Transfer Office, thereby frustrating the audit process,” the report stated.
“None of the paid vouchers were pre-audited or checked by the Internal Audit as required by extant regulations,” the report added.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had on 18 October, 2023, unveiled its intention to grant ₦25,000 ($18) each month to 15 million households using an $800 million loan from the World Bank.
The scheme, often called the National Cash Transfer Programme (NCTP) or Conditional Cash Transfer Programme (CCTP), was meant to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks for vulnerable groups in Nigeria and was designed to last for three months, from October to December 2023.
Implementation lapses vs official corruption
Despite receiving World Bank approval in December 2021, the implementation of the NCTP suffered a disbursement delay of nearly 17 months due to scandals that rocked the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in December 2023, uncovered a ₦37.1bn ($27m) fraud within the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation – the government agency that is responsible for implementing the National cash transfer programme (NCTP)- under the leadership of former Minister Sadiya Umar-Farouq.
$440m transferred to 10 million Nigerians in 3 yrs – Minister
Speaking during an appearance on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme on 26 August, 2026, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, said that more than ₦600 billion ($440m) was transferred to over 10 million Nigerian households in the ongoing National Cash Transfer programme in the past three years.
“The 10 million beneficiary households could translate to roughly 40 million individuals, based on an average household size of four people,” said Doro.
“₦25,000 ($18) can look very small to elites, but not to the poorest of the poor,” Doro added.
NCTP: A Myth or a Reality?
An independent opinion poll conducted by Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) across the country, involving over 50,000 respondents in May, 2025 revealed that none had received or known anyone who had received CCT payments.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA faulted the government’s handling of the CCT programme.
“It is paradoxical that the government claims to be fighting poverty through cash disbursements while credible international organisations report an escalating poverty crisis”, the statement by Onwubiko read.
“Transparency and accountability must be the cornerstone of all public welfare programmes. The government must demonstrate its commitment to these principles by making all relevant information about the CCT programme publicly available,” the statement added.
While speaking at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference held in Abuja in October, 2025, the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, had said that data would soon be released showing the names of beneficiaries who had received the first, second, and third tranches of the Federal Government’s Conditional Cash Transfers to Vulnerable Nigerians. But eleven months later, names of the said beneficiaries are yet to be made public.
Findings by TruthNigeria reveal that names of the beneficiaries of ₦600 billion electronic cash transfer programme are not stated on the website of The National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO).
The NCTO stated on its website that it sources its beneficiaries from the National Social Register (NSR) – Nigeria’s official database of poor and vulnerable households.
However, a visit to the website of the NSR indicates that none of the 20,391,371 Poor & Vulnerable Households (PVHHs) stated therein had their name mentioned.
As at March, 2026, many Nigerians said they had not received any cash transfer from the Federal Government since the inception of the initiative, according to a report by The Point.
Advocacy group reacts
Courtesy – Kolawole Oluwadare @ Linkedin.
In a letter dated 5 September, 2026, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) gave President Bola Tinubu seven days to order an investigation into the alleged diversion, mismanagement or failure to account for ₦78.8 billion ($58 m) allocated to the government’s cash transfer programme.
The letter which was signed by SERAP deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, read in part:
“SERAP further urges you to direct the ministry to publish a comprehensive and regularly updated register of all beneficiaries of the cash transfer programmes.
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter.”
“If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.
Ebere Inyama reports on conflict and religious freedom for TruthNigeria.
