Auditor-General queries NPC census contracts and payments worth over N245bn

The Auditor-General for the Federation has questioned National Population Commission contracts and payments worth more than N245 billion, citing missing evidence of delivery, alleged price inflation and breaches of procurement rules in preparations for the postponed 2023 census.

The findings cover the commission’s 2023 financial year and appear in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance, submitted to the National Assembly in July, according to Premium Times. The newspaper published details of the audit on Thursday, October 8.

The figures concern contracts and payments queried by the audit. They should not be read as a court finding that the entire amount was stolen or as money already recovered.

Digital devices and proof of delivery

The largest query concerns N131.56 billion paid for 800,000 Personal Digital Assistants and accessories intended for the population and housing census. The devices were to support digital census work.

The commission told auditors that it had received 760,000 devices. The auditors said it did not provide credible delivery records, including store receipt vouchers, delivery notes, waybills or inspection reports, and instead relied on handwritten entries on unofficial papers. They also said the audit team was denied access to inspect the places where the devices were reportedly stored or deployed.

Premium Times reported that the Auditor-General asked the commission’s director-general to account for the N131.56 billion to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees, recover and remit the money to the Treasury, and provide evidence of remittance. These are audit recommendations, not confirmation that a recovery has taken place.

A separate query alleges that three device contracts were inflated by a combined N1.447 billion through changes to prices or specifications approved by the Bureau of Public Procurement. The report cited the Public Procurement Act’s restrictions on substantive changes after the procurement process.

Subscription and local-content contracts

The audit also questioned a N4.429 billion Mobile Device Management contract awarded on April 19, 2023. Full payment was made on May 15, after the census was postponed on April 29, according to the report.

Auditors said the time-bound subscription expired without being used for census purposes. The director-general reportedly told them it had been used for normal official activities, but the auditors said no verifiable evidence supported that explanation and that the licence had been procured to manage 800,000 census devices.

Another finding concerned N96.8 billion in device contracts that auditors said breached a procurement directive on local-content participation. The report said the arrangement allowed one supplier to dominate both foreign and local-content allocations, contrary to the Bureau of Public Procurement’s recommendations.

ICT projects and the next steps

The report questioned a N6.23 billion ICT project, which included a disaster recovery centre in Kaduna, because construction proceeded without an approved bill of quantities. That document sets out the materials, labour and costs needed for a project.

It also queried a N4.735 billion ICT contract awarded to a firm that auditors said lacked the required technical and professional capacity. Among their concerns were a conditional advance-payment guarantee instead of the required unconditional guarantee and missing professional registrations.

Ojogun Osifo was the commission’s director-general during the 2023 audit period. His tenure ended in July 2026, after which Abuh Muhammed succeeded him, Premium Times reported.

The newspaper reported that the commission did not respond to several audit queries. The Auditor-General recommended that the director-general account to the Public Accounts Committees, recover disputed payments and submit evidence of remittance to the Treasury, with sanctions where the identified breaches were not addressed.

Source: Premium Times