• NIMC, NEPAD, Cash Transfer Office, NICTM, NPC flagged
• President still silent on Audit Bill
Nigeria’s public finance system is facing a fresh accountability crisis after the latest audit report uncovered financial irregularities and control failures running into more than N1.34 trillion across federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in MDAs, covering the financial year ended December 31, 2024, exposed a pattern of weak financial controls, unsupported payments, unremitted revenues, irregular contracts and unretired cash advances across government institutions.
Rather than isolated breaches by individual agencies, the report presented what the Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, described as pervasive control deficiencies and institutional lapses capable of undermining public financial management, accountability and service delivery.
In a letter dated July 17, 2026, transmitting the report to the National Assembly, Chira said the audit identified 31 categories of infractions cutting across the MDAs examined.
The findings raised a fundamental question over the effectiveness of safeguards designed to protect public resources.
Among the most striking findings, the report said 25 MDAs obtained cash advances totalling about N1.403 billion above approved limits, with the National Institute for Construction Technology and Management (NICTM), Uromi, Edo State, accounting for the largest amount at N467.77 million.
The audit also found that 20 MDAs failed to retire N2.74 billion in cash advances, with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) recording the highest amount at N1.01 billion.
NEPAD was again flagged over N1.78 billion in payments that it failed to adequately account for, contributing to a total of N6.73 billion in unaccounted payments across 14 MDAs.
The revenue side of government finances also came under scrutiny.
According to the report, five MDAs under-remitted N1.169 billion in internally generated revenue (IGR) to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF). The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) accounted for the largest portion, at N627.35 million.
Separately, nine MDAs failed to remit N8.089 billion in internally generated revenue to the CRF, with the University of Lagos accounting for N3.29 billion.
The report further identified N3.27 billion in unsubstantiated payments involving 20 MDAs, with the Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy recording the highest amount at N447.67 million.
Even more alarming were payments made without the documentation required to establish that public money was properly spent.
The audit identified N37.081 billion in payments without supporting documents across 21 MDAs, with the National Cash Transfer Office accounting for a staggering N33.75 billion.
The same agency was also flagged over N36.74 billion in payments made without pre-payment audit, representing the bulk of the N39.17 billion identified under the infraction across seven MDAs.
Contract management was another major area of concern.
The report identified N76.96 billion in irregular contracts across the affected MDAs, with the National Population Commission (NPC) recording the highest amount at about N10.96 billion.
It also found N27.252 billion in payments for jobs and contracts that were not properly executed, with NICTM accounting for the largest amount at N11.36 billion.
Taken together, the findings point to failures at multiple stages of the public expenditure cycle, from the approval and release of funds to procurement, contract execution, documentation, revenue remittance and pre-payment verification.
But beyond the sheer value of the financial irregularities lies another, potentially more consequential,
problem: the ability of the government to enforce accountability when audit queries are raised.
The Auditor-General stated that the identified infractions had been reported to the Public Accounts Committees (PACs) of the National Assembly for consideration.
However, the audit findings have renewed concerns about the strength of the legal framework supporting the Auditor-General’s office and the enforcement of audit recommendations.
Nigeria has yet to enact the proposed Federal Audit Service law, despite prolonged legislative consideration of the bill.
The Federal Audit Service Bill, which had spent years at the National Assembly, was transmitted to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent several months ago but has yet to be signed.
Its continued absence has become a major concern among accountability advocates, who argue that identifying financial infractions is not enough if government institutions lack an effective mechanism to compel compliance and impose consequences.
The proposed law is expected to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF), improve transparency and accountability in public financial management, and strengthen enforcement around audit queries.
Among other provisions, the proposed legislation would empower the Auditor-General to take action against chief executives of MDAs that fail to respond adequately to audit queries.
It would also establish clearer timelines for the submission of the Federal Government’s financial statements by the Accountant-General of the Federation to the Auditor-General.
For accountability campaigners, the prolonged delay in assenting to the bill is therefore increasingly difficult to separate from the wider weaknesses exposed by successive audit reports.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) recently urged the leadership of the National Assembly to consider overriding the President if his failure to assent to the bill remains unexplained.
The group’s position reflects a broader concern among civil society organisations that Nigeria’s anti-corruption and public-finance architecture cannot depend solely on the discovery of irregularities after public money has been spent.