N33.75bn: Cash Transfers office Rejects Fraud Allegation, Presents Evidence

The National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO) has dismissed allegations of fraud involving N33.75 billion in cash transfers made to 3.29 million beneficiaries in 2023. The office maintains that the payments were made through established electronic systems and multiple layers of verification. According to the NCTO, the transfers were processed under "stringent beneficiary identification, validation, authorization and payment controls."

The office clarified that the audit query raised by the Auditor-General's office did not prove that public funds were stolen, diverted, misappropriated or lost. They provided documentary evidence showing that the 2023 and subsequent National Beneficiary Registers were transmitted to the auditors via email, with timestamps indicating the transmissions.

The NCTO also disputed the Auditor-General's claim that the relevant REMITA statement was withheld, asserting that the project accountant had retained email evidence of the payment report's sharing with the audit team. The office emphasized that the lack of printed beneficiary records does not imply that beneficiaries could not be identified or that payment records did not exist; the information was available electronically and had been transmitted to the auditors for verification.