The Federal Government could not provide sufficient evidence to auditors that N33.75bn in cash transfers meant for more than 3.29 million vulnerable households reached genuine beneficiaries, the Auditor-General for the Federation has said.
This was contained in 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 obtained by Saturday PUNCH on Friday.
The report, which reviewed transactions at the National Cash Transfer Office in Abuja for the 2023 financial year, raised eight audit queries involving billions of naira and identified weaknesses in the office’s internal control system.
According to the report, electronic transfers totalling N33.751bn were made to 3,295,207 households and beneficiaries drawn from the National Social Register and enrolled on the National Beneficiary Register across 35 states in 2023.
However, the auditors said the paid vouchers did not contain the full details of the beneficiaries, while the Remita statement required to reconcile those who received payments with persons listed on the NSR and NBR was not presented for examination.
