By Godswill Michael
Eight federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) spent or committed a combined N26.45 billion on constituency and zonal intervention projects without providing evidence of the approvals, verification and payment authorisation required under government regulations, an audit report has revealed.
The Auditor-General for the Federation queried a total of N26,447,738,133.75 involving the eight agencies, citing breaches including payments made without approval from the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, irregular contract awards, unauthorised deductions and failure to provide evidence that some projects were executed.
The findings are contained in the 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of Nigeria, covering the year ended December 31, 2024.
The affected agencies are the Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe; University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin; Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Abuja; National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency; National Institute of Construction and Management Technology, Uromi; National Power Training Institute; Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority; and National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria.
The National Institute of Construction and Management Technology, Uromi, Edo State, accounted for the largest share of the queried expenditure, with N20.78 billion across four separate audit findings.
At the institute, the Auditor-General queried N9.94 billion in contracts for construction, installations, training and empowerment programmes after physical verification could not be conducted because the institute failed to make the necessary arrangements for audit inspection and monitoring.
The report also said there was no evidence to confirm that the contracts had been executed.
Another N8.67 billion in construction contracts awarded under the institute’s 2023 constituency project funds was queried because the audit found no evidence that due process requirements, including advertisement, competitive bidding and evaluation, had been followed.
The Auditor-General also queried N1.42 billion earmarked for youth and women training and empowerment programmes because the institute failed to provide distribution lists, beneficiary schedules or other supporting documents showing that the funds were used for their stated purposes.
In addition, the institute was queried over an unauthorised deduction of N760.61 million, representing five per cent administrative charges deducted from funds released for zonal intervention and constituency projects.
According to the report, the institute did not respond to any of the four audit findings.
The Auditor-General recommended that the Rector account to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly for the queried amounts, recover and remit the questioned funds to the Treasury and provide evidence of the remittances.
The report also recommended sanctions for irregular payments, contract awards and failure to account for public funds.
Other affected agencies
The Federal College of Education (Technical), Gombe, followed with N1.84 billion in queried constituency and zonal intervention expenditure.
The college awarded contracts worth N865.95 million in 2022 and N971.25 million in 2023, bringing the total to N1.837 billion.
The Auditor-General said the college failed to provide evidence of approval and payment certificates from the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, as required by the applicable regulations.
Although the college said the projects were executed in accordance with the ministry’s specifications and supplied pictorial evidence and completion certificates, the Auditor-General found the response unsatisfactory and maintained the finding.
The Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority was also queried over N2.98 billion involving 16 contracts for constituency projects and consultancy services.
According to the audit report, the authority failed to provide evidence that the projects had been verified or that the payments were authorised by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs.
The authority did not respond to the finding.
The University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara State, was queried over N449.81 million spent on construction, hospital equipment and professional and consulting services under constituency projects in Kwara Central Senatorial District.
The Auditor-General said there was no evidence that the projects had been verified or that the payments had been authorised by the Special Duties ministry.
The hospital also failed to respond to the query, according to the report.
Similarly, the National Power Training Institute was queried over N196.59 million spent on electricity transformers and solar streetlights under constituency projects.
The audit said the institute failed to provide evidence that the contractors were eligible to execute the contracts through the Bureau of Public Procurement’s Interim Registration Reports.
It further said the projects were neither monitored nor certified by the Special Duties ministry and that there was no evidence that the supplied items had been received into the institute’s stores.
The National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria, was queried over N102.74 million awarded to three contractors for constituency and zonal intervention projects.
The projects included transformer installations in Rivers State, training for women and youths in Kaduna State, and the procurement of fertilisers and herbicides for three local government areas in Kaduna State.
The Auditor-General said there was no evidence that the contracts had been authorised by the Special Duties ministry before they were awarded.
The institute did not respond to the query.
At the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Abuja, the audit queried N66.5 million involving two constituency projects in Katsina State.
The projects comprised N28.5 million for awareness campaigns on kidnapping across three federal constituencies and N38 million for skills acquisition and empowerment of internally displaced persons.
The Auditor-General said there was no evidence that the ministry had verified the projects or authorised the payments.
The institute subsequently stated that it had attached approval from the Special Duties ministry. However, the Auditor-General considered the response unsatisfactory and maintained the finding.
The National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency was also queried over N35.60 million spent on three constituency projects, including community electrification and transformer installation in Benue South Senatorial District and the supply of science laboratory equipment to selected schools in Lagos Island Federal Constituency.
The agency said it had obtained authorisation from the ministry for its intervention projects and acknowledged the observation concerning constituency projects, adding that the issue had subsequently been corrected.
The Auditor-General, however, maintained the finding.
What the rules require
The audit findings repeatedly relied on Establishment Circular Ref. No. SDO/P&P/034/Vol. I/21 of July 24, 2017, which sets out procedures for MDAs implementing zonal intervention and constituency projects.
Under the circular, MDAs are required to award contracts, monitor and supervise implementation, and raise payment certificates for submission to the Special Duties Office.
The office is then required to “verify and ascertain the level of work done and authorize payments for such projects.”
The Auditor-General said the affected MDAs failed, in the cases identified, to provide evidence that the required verification and payment authorisation had taken place before payments were made.
The audit also relied on provisions of the Financial Regulations (2009), which require public expenditure to be properly authorised and restrict payments for goods not supplied or services not performed.
Across the eight agencies, the Auditor-General recommended that the heads of the affected institutions account to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly for the queried amounts, recover and remit funds where required, and provide evidence of such remittances.
The report also recommended sanctions in cases involving irregular contract awards, irregular payments and other breaches of the Financial Regulations.
The findings highlight continuing audit concerns over the implementation of constituency and zonal intervention projects by federal agencies, particularly where responsibility for project execution is transferred to MDAs while approval, monitoring and payment controls remain subject to federal guidelines.