The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has flagged at least N3.62bn in financial irregularities at the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, Abuja, including N2.77bn in unremitted tender fees, questionable contract payments and purchases of store items without evidence of delivery.

The findings, contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-compliance, cover the period between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2023. Our correspondent analysed details of the recently released report on Monday.

The report also identified missing financial records, under-remittance of taxes, payments for consultancy services without evidence of execution, and expenditure charged to accounts meant for constituency projects.

The nine quantified findings in the available extracts amount to approximately N3.62bn. This figure excludes findings for which no amount was specified and any incomplete entries in the extracted document.

The largest amount concerns N2.77bn generated from the sale of bid documents and tender fees, which the audit report said was not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as required by government regulations.

According to the report, “the sum of N2,771,731,464.25, being proceeds from the sale of bid documents and tender fees during the bidding process, was not remitted to the CRF, as required by extant regulations. There was no evidence to support bid purchase transactions through Remita, as relevant documents were not provided for audit.”

The auditors also said there was no evidence to support bid-purchase transactions through Remita because relevant documents were not provided for examination.

The report recommended that the institute’s Director-General account to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly for the money and recover and remit the amount to the Treasury. It further recommended sanctions under the Financial Regulations if the recommendations were not implemented.

Another finding concerned N547.21m paid for the procurement of various store items in 11 transactions. The auditors said they were not provided with evidence of delivery or Store Receipt Vouchers showing that the items had been received and entered in the institute’s stores ledger.

The report identified the absence of such records as a risk of payment for goods not supplied and possible diversion of public funds. It recommended accountability and recovery, although the recovery amount stated in the recommendation differs from the original payment figure and requires verification.

The audit also queried N196.59m paid for three constituency projects involving electricity transformers and solar streetlights in Ogun, Lagos and Osun states.

The projects included N59.2m for the supply and installation of 500kVA transformers at locations in Ogun State, N38.53m for 40 solar streetlights in communities in the Epe Federal Constituency of Lagos State, and N98.86m for 500kVA transformers in Ijebu Jesa, Osun State.

According to the report, the institute did not provide evidence that the contractors were eligible to execute the contracts through the Bureau of Public Procurement’s interim registration process.

The auditors further said the projects were not monitored and certified by the Federal Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, as required by the relevant guidelines. There was also no evidence that the supplied items had been received into the store.

The report recommended that the Director-General account for the payments, recover the money and remit it to the Treasury.

In another finding, the auditors queried N29.65m spent on duty tour allowances, sitting allowances and honoraria, which they said had been charged to the constituency project account.

The report stated that the 13 payments were made without evidence of approval to transfer funds between budget heads. It also said inspection reports or other supporting documents were not provided to justify the duty tour allowances.

The auditors recommended recovery of the amount and warned that sanctions could apply under the Financial Regulations. The institute was also found to have under-remitted N4.12m in Value Added Tax from 21 contracts worth N136.86m.

The report said the expected 7.5 per cent VAT amounted to N10.26m, but only N6.14m was remitted to the relevant tax authority.

Citing the Financial Regulations, the auditors stated, “Accounting Officers must ensure full compliance with the dual roles of making provision for the Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax due on supply and services contract and actual remittance of same.”

The report added, “Deduction for WHT, VAT, Stamp Duty and PAYE shall be remitted to the Federal Inland Revenue at the same time the payee who is the subject of the deduction is paid.”

Other findings included N24.4m in administrative charges incorporated into bills of quantities without evidence that the charges were requested, approved, or utilised; N10.68m provided for Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency certification and commissioning without supporting evidence; N17.34m in contingency provisions paid shortly after contract awards without the required approvals; and N22.45m transferred for a youth and women training programme without evidence that the programme was conducted.

The auditors further faulted the institute for failing to provide critical documents, including its trial balance, general ledger, remittance inflows and outflows statement, correspondence with the supervising Ministry of Power, and its 2023 financial proposal.

The report said the absence of the documents limited audit verification and undermined accountability and transparency. It added that the institute’s management did not respond to the findings, leaving the audit observations unresolved pending implementation of the recommendations.

The Auditor-General recommended that the Director-General justify the non-provision of the records before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees and submit the outstanding documents for verification.

The report cited weaknesses in the institute’s internal control system and warned of risks including loss of public funds, revenue leakage and payments unsupported by adequate documentation.