President Goodluck Jonathan's accreditation on Saturday for the presidential election was delayed as three card readers failed to capture his biometric details.
Jonathan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, who arrived at the Otazi playground polling centre in his home town, Otueke, Bayelsa State, with his wife, at exactly 9:22 am, could not be accredited till after 10:00 am.
However, the same card reader had accredited some other voters before the President.
While waiting for a fourth card reader, a visibly sweating Jonathan urged Nigerians to be patient and ensure they all voted.
Calling the inability to be accredited a little delay, Jonathan told journalists that the elections nationwide should not be viewed through the perspective of only one incident of failed card reader.
Jonathan said: "President Jonathan is just one person, so if we have problem with one person, as far as the elections is going on well nationally.
"I’m not worried, there might be a delay, my interest is that we conduct a credible election.
"What I want to know is that what is happening across the country."
Jonathan, who also placed a call through to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, to find out what is happening nationwide, added: "I want to use this opportunity to commend Nigerians and congratulate them for coming out to elect the next President, Senators and House of Representatives.
"There maybe issues, but this is the first time we are using this technology of voters card and card readers, I just spoke with the INEC Chairman to know what is happening across the country, President Jonathan is just one voter so even if we have problems with my own card, as long as nationally the process is going on well.
"They may be a way to resolve the hitches but my interest is for us to conduct a peaceful and credible elections and i believe that no matter the hitches.
"Nigeria elections is an election that the whole world is interested in and my conviction is that the election should go on."
There had been complaints in various parts of Lagos concerning the challenges being faced by voters as well as the late commencement of the accreditation.
Mr. Ima Niboro,Director General of the News Agency of Nigeria, said he spoke with the Chairman of the INEC Professor Attahiru Jega, who he said gave approval for President Jonathan to be accredited “based on the register”.
Kaduna State :
Sambo's Accreditation Delayed by Late Arrival of Electoral Materials
In Kaduna, officials of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are yet to arrive Vice President Namadi Sambo's polling unit with election materials
But security men and several aides of the Vice President were already on ground expecting INEC officials to arrive for accreditation of the Vice President.
Already some of the voters who are waiting patiently for INEC officials to come for the accreditation scheduled to commence at 8am are becoming apprehensive and worried as nobody is telling them the reason for the delay.
As at 11:00 am when this story was being filed , it was observed that large number of voters trooped out impressively for the accreditation at the Kabala Doki , Ward 5 polling unit , but the delay in the arrival of election materials is stirring up tension.
However, in other polling units visited within Kaduna metropolis earlier, INEC officials have arrived with materials and have commenced accreditation process.
At WAFF Road, an accredited voted, Emmanuel Kyom told correspondents that he was impressed with quick and orderly manner the card reader and INEC officials are conducting the accreditation exercise.
It was also noticed that heavily armed and battle ready soldiers and policemen were seen at flash points notorious for violence as early as 7am.
For now, the accreditation process in most places visited by Huhuonline.com are peaceful and voters are on queue waiting to for their turn.
Rivers State
The state is under siege as armed men take over the streets of Port Harcourt and other parts of the state, shooting sporadically for two days running.
The Police in Rivers State in obvious connivance with the opposition PDP in the state have embarked on massive arrest of APC stalwarts in the state on trumped up charges.
The State Agent of the APC , Emma Deeyah was yesterday arrested at the state INEC office where he and others went for a briefing by INEC.
At GRA , close to the popular Casablanca area, armed men opened fire shooting in the air while other road users abandoned their vehicles and ran for safety. This was about 6pm yesterday.
At Rumuigbo and Wimpy areas of Obio/Akpor LGA, home of the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Nyesom Wike, there were shootings by armed youths who were seen chanting'PDP'.
In Andoni, the home of the defected Deputy Gov. Tele Ikuru and Prince Uche Secondus, the National Dep Chairman of the PDP, soldiers have taken over the place, intimidating supporters of the State Chairman of APC, Ibiamu Ikanya who is also from the area.
As at 5am today, at Obelle in Emohua LGA, police men were knocking on the doors of APC members to arrest them.
The fear of arrest as well as the presence of these armed men has contributed to the apathy that is witnessed now in the state.
As at press time,, voting materials are yet to arrive in all the 17 wards of Obio/Akpor LGA, home of Nyesom Wike and Tony Okocha who is the candidate of the APC for Obio/Akpor federal constituency. He is Amaechi's Chief of Staff after Wike
Edo State:
Army Stops Journalist from Travelling in Benin, Edo State
Operatives of Nigerian Army have begun what many are describing as the systematic intimidation of Nigerian journalists on Saturday morning in Benin, Edo State.
Journalists who set out to monitor the presidential and national assembly elections were barred from moving in their private vehicles by soldiers who insisted that they could only commute in official cars.
Gabriel Ordia of Galaxy TV and his crew were turned back from travelling to Edo Central senatorial district.
As at the time of filing this report, the Public Relations Officer of 4 Brigade, Nigerian Army in Benin, Captain Abubakar Abdulahi, who was called for intervention, promised to talk to the military operatives.
Some members of the public are however sceptical that the presence of the military operatives could intimidate electorates from coming out to exercise their franchise.
Card Reader: Oyegun, Others Yet to be Accredited
It appears the failure of INEC’s card readers to function is not isolated in Edo south senatorial district alone, as accreditation of eligible voters is underway in Edo central and north part of state.
All polling units in Edo south are yet to be accreditation of eligible voters as at 11:00 am.
National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief John Odigie Oyegun, who arrived at Ward 2 Unit 2 located in the premises of Civil Service Training School, GRA, by 11 am, was told by INEC staff that the the card readers were not functioning.
Addressing the press, Chief Oyegun called on the people to remain calm and wait peacefully, hoping that the situation will be resolved as soon as possible.
“We are keeping an eye on the situation. We will not allow the people to be deprived the opportunity to express their will," Oyegun said.
"I have heard that it is a generalised problem in Edo south. Messing up the process in Edo south will be messing up the result in Edo state.
"If it is a genuine technical problem which we hope will be resolved in a matter of minutes, because Edo south constitute 56 percent of the population of the state."
The process of accreditation was already in progress at Ward 7 Units 1 to 39, located inside Ologbosere Primary School, Upper Sakponba as the card reader issue was already resolved.
Rev. Eta Okon, confirmed that the card reader actually failed to work initially but that the issue has been resolved and he has been accredited.
Enugu & Gombe State : Bomb Blast Rocks Polling Unit in Enugu, Gombe
The entire Enugu State was thrown into panic on Saturday as an improvised explosive devices loaded in the white-coloured Honda car with registration number: KU J971 ABJ went off at a polling unit inside WTC primary school while accreditation of voters commenced on Saturday.
Nobody died in the incident, but it was learnt that the driver of the bomb-laden car got injured, but how he was evacuated from the car remains a mystery to security operatives at the scene.
The security operatives also said there were some unexploded explosives inside the car.
As at the time of filling this report, Police anti-bomb squad were at the scene trying to defuse the remaining unexploded bombs.
Prior to the explosion, it was learnt that the security operatives had defused two bombs at about 9.05 am.
As a result of this incidents, many residents have returned home in order to save their lives as they expressed fears that more of such incidents could be experienced.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Dan Bature, who visited the scene with top officers of the Force and journalists, advised residents not to panic as the Police was in control.
Journalists were however barred from taking photographs of the scene.
In the Gombe incident, it was learnt that the explosive was planted in one of the polling units.
Witnesses said one person was killed in the incident, but it is not known if the victim was a suicide bomber.
APC raises alarm over use of FG facility in Lagos
The APC has raised the alarm over suspicious, election-related activities being carried out at the Federal Government Press on Mobil Road, opposite Coca Cola, at Ajegunle, Lagos. In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said workers at the facility were sent home early on Friday, apparently so it can be made ready for use today (Saturday, March 28th) for a ‘presidency’ assignment. ”A concerned Nigerian alerted us to these developments, and we wonder what a federal government facility can be needed for on election day if it is not part of the facilities designated by INEC for election collation purpose. ”We are therefore compelled to alert the security agencies to urgently put the Federal Government Press at Mobil Road in Lagos under surveillance, with a view to stopping any possible illegal activities that may be going on there on this election day.” APC said with the avowed desperation of the PDP to capture Lagos State at all cost, it cannot be trusted not to resort to underhand activities to manipulate the polls in the state, hence the alarm.
PDP Agent Arrested in Ikorodu For Possessing Spy Cameras
APC Agents Without Tags denied Entry to Polling Area
One of the agents of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Igbogbo area of Ikorodu Division has been arrested with a spy camera.
The cameras were hidden in his sunglasses and ball point pens.
Except in exceptional cases authorised by the appropriate quarters, the use of cameras at polling centres goes contrary to electoral laws.
Concerns have been raised by many that this rule is widely being broken.
Meanwhile, agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in polling booth 001, Ikorodu are not being allowed in the polling booth because they are not in possession identification tags.
Some of the agents, however are presenting letters of confirmation of their status, but officials insiste that they must produce identification tags.
The same situation is occurring in Cele area of Ikorodu Division where party agents without identifications are also sent out.
As at 10:30 am, accreditation had not commenced in a lot of places in Ikorodu as some of the smart card readers for the accreditation had not been programmed for the process.
In Aga and Borokini areas, all the card readers have failed and accreditation is terribly slow in the area.
Blockage of APC leaders phone lines
The opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) party said the phone lines of key APC leaders have been bombarded with calls from an unknown number with a view to rendering them useless on election day. The calls, which started in the early hours of Saturday, were so persistent that genuine calls could not come in while no calls could be made from the phone lines.
17 card readers stolen in Imo
Security was beefed up at both the INEC headquarters along Port Harcourt Road, Owerri by soldiers who cordoned the area after violence erupted by some youths who protested what they alleged as missing 17 Card Reader Machines in the area.
Borno State
Vehicles, Houses torched as PDP, APC clash, in Borno
Over 250 PDP and APC members and supporters in Borno state clashed at Marama town in Hawul Local Government Area of state, torching several houses and vehicles over an alleged “importation of Boko Haram insurgents” to disrupt elections in the state. The clash was triggered when the PDP supporters alleged that one of the Borno state commissioners stormed southern Borno with armed APC thugs to allegedly disrupt the elections. The two sides clashed with dangerous weapons, burning each other’s’ flags, posters and party buildings, including two Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) of the council chairman and the alleged Borno commissioner. It took the deployment of soldiers from Biu town to intervene and quell the bloody clash that did not result into loss of lives, as the wounded were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe for treatment..
DELTA STATE:
Voting postponed in two LGAs in Delta
Voting was postponed in Ethiope Federal constituency comprising Ethiope East and West Local Government Areas of Delta State because of inadequate supply of voting materials. The distribution of voting materials by the Warri office of INEC ended at 8.20am.
EBONYI STATE:
Man arrested for Distributing Stolen PVCs in Ebonyi
A man identified as Ozoemena Odenta was arrested by police in Ikwo Division of Ebonyi state for allegedly distributing stolen PVCs in Ekawoke ward in the area. The suspect was accused to have stolen the cards, numbering over 300, from INEC officials during the last distribution exercise and disappeared, only to resurface on the election day with the cards, which he distributed based on his discretion to his loyalists.
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Tinubu Meets Bolloré in Paris Over Expanded Investment in Nigeria’s Creative, Digital Economy
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held talks with French businessman Vincent Bolloré in Paris on plans to expand investment in Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The meeting, held during the President’s working vacation, focused on opportunities to deepen the localisation of operations by the Bolloré Group and increase investment in sectors including film, entertainment, fibre-optic infrastructure and digital services, according to a statement issued by the presidency.
Bolloré and members of his executive team outlined proposed investments centred on Nigeria, highlighting the country’s growing influence in global entertainment through Nollywood and Afrobeats.
The group also expressed interest in expanding its operations and local presence in Nigeria, with the presidency saying the plans could support increased production, investment and employment opportunities in the country.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s focus on economic growth, job creation and digitalisation, while welcoming the group’s reported plans to deepen its activities in Nigeria.
The President said the government would continue to support investments aimed at developing the creative and digital economy, strengthening infrastructure and creating opportunities for Nigerian talent.
According to the statement, Tinubu also emphasised the potential for Nigeria to serve as a base for companies seeking to operate across Africa and international markets.
The meeting comes as Nigeria continues to promote its entertainment and technology sectors as areas of economic opportunity, with the government seeking to attract investment while expanding employment opportunities for young Nigerians.
Tinubu said his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda seeks to harness Nigeria’s talent, entrepreneurship and growing global cultural influence to create greater economic opportunities and improve livelihoods.
News
Banks Shut 476 Branches as Nigeria’s Banking Landscape Goes Digital
Nigeria’s banks are rapidly abandoning the traditional banking model, shutting down hundreds of branches and cash centres as customers increasingly move to digital and electronic channels.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria show that banks closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, cutting the country’s physical banking network by 8.8 per cent in just three years.
The number of bank branches and cash centres plunged from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, signalling a dramatic shift away from brick-and-mortar banking.
The contraction has gathered pace in recent years.
Banks closed 37 locations in 2023, followed by a much steeper reduction of 229 locations in 2024. Another 210 branches and cash centres disappeared in 2025.
In effect, more than nine out of every 10 locations lost during the three-year period were closed in 2024 and 2025.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector, cover branches and cash centres operated by commercial, merchant and non-interest banks. The data were sourced from the CBN and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
Lagos bears the biggest hit Lagos, Nigeria’s financial powerhouse, recorded the largest decline.
The state had 1,602 bank branches and cash centres in 2022. That figure dropped to 1,532 in 2023, 1,521 in 2024 and just 1,444 in 2025.
That represents a loss of 158 locations, or nearly 10 per cent, in three years.
Despite the closures, Lagos remains overwhelmingly dominant, accounting for almost 29 per cent of all physical banking locations in Nigeria.
The Federal Capital Territory also suffered a significant contraction. Abuja went from 400 locations in 2022 to 362 in 2025, a decline of 38, or 9.5 per cent.
But some states experienced far more dramatic cuts.
Ekiti lost almost half of its banking locations, falling from 107 in 2022 to just 57 in 2025 — a staggering 46.7 per cent decline.
Enugu lost 44 locations, dropping from 162 to 118, while Oyo shed 41, falling from 237 to 196.
Other notable declines were recorded in Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers.
Northern banking centres also feel the squeeze
The contraction was not confined to the South.
Kano, for instance, initially expanded its banking footprint, rising from 164 locations in 2022 to 183 in 2024. But the reversal was sharp in 2025, when the figure crashed to 157.
Kaduna followed a similar pattern. Its locations climbed from 148 in 2022 to 164 in 2024 before falling back to 146 in 2025.
Yet not every state is losing branches.
Delta recorded the strongest expansion among the states highlighted, adding 23 locations and rising from 173 in 2022 to 196 in 2025.
Edo added 10, while Jigawa and Kogi gained six and five locations respectively.
A widening banking divide
The figures expose a striking disparity in access to physical banking infrastructure across Nigeria.
While Lagos had 1,444 branches and cash centres in 2025, Yobe had only 23, Taraba 26 and Zamfara 28.
Bayelsa and Gombe had 31 each, while Ebonyi had 32.
The imbalance underscores how heavily physical banking infrastructure remains concentrated in Nigeria’s major commercial and economic centres.
The bank branch may be losing its battle
The shrinking branch network comes despite the number of banks operating in Nigeria initially increasing.
The country had 32 banks in 2022, 33 in 2023 and 35 in 2024, before the figure slipped slightly to 34 in 2025.
That means the branch closures cannot simply be explained by a shrinking number of banks.
Instead, the figures point to a much bigger transformation: Nigerian banking is moving away from physical locations and towards digital platforms.
The CBN has itself been pushing greater adoption of alternative payment channels, particularly among farmers, traders, small businesses and informal-sector operators who may have limited access to conventional banking services.
Speaking at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Hakama Sidi-Ali, stressed the importance of alternative payment channels in expanding financial access and stimulating economic activity.
The message from the numbers is even clearer.
The era of banking halls on every major street may be fading.
With hundreds of branches disappearing in just three years — and the pace of closures accelerating — Nigeria’s banking industry is betting increasingly on phones, apps, electronic payments and other digital channels rather than physical walls and counters.
For millions of Nigerians, the next bank branch may no longer be a building. It may be sitting in their hands.
Business
In The Spotlight
Dangote: OPM Made You 36th Globally—How Many Investors Will Become Billionaires?
Alhaji Aliko Dangote has done what very few Africans have ever done. He has built a business empire of extraordinary scale, crossed the $50 billion mark in personal wealth, and reportedly risen to the 36th position among the world’s 3,397 billionaires.
That is an achievement Nigerians can acknowledge. But today, I want to ask a different question. Alhaji Dangote, how many of the Nigerians who are now investing their hard-earned money in your businesses will you help turn into millionaires—and eventually billionaires? That, in my view, is the more important question. Because behind every great fortune is an army of people whose money, labour, patronage, trust and participation helped create that wealth. And that brings us to OPM—Other People’s Money.
Other People's Money Built More Than One Fortune
Let us be honest: no business empire is built by one person alone. Investors provide capital. Banks provide financing. Workers provide labour. Consumers provide revenue. Suppliers provide goods and services. Governments provide infrastructure and an operating environment. And ordinary Nigerians have been buying Dangote products for decades. Now, Nigerians are being invited to take another step—from being customers to becoming owners.
The public offering of shares in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery gives ordinary Nigerians an opportunity to put their money into one of the country's biggest industrial projects. That opportunity comes with risk, of course. Nobody should invest money they cannot afford to lose, and nobody should assume that buying shares automatically guarantees wealth.
But there is a bigger principle here.If Nigerians are going to put their money into Dangote's business, Nigerians should also have a meaningful opportunity to participate in the wealth that business creates.
Don't Take Nigerians for Granted
Alhaji Dangote, Nigerians have supported your businesses.They have bought your cement.They have bought your sugar. They have bought your flour. They have bought countless other products connected to your business empire.Nigerian workers have built factories, transported products, operated plants, sold products and provided services.
Now, ordinary Nigerians are being asked to invest directly. That creates a responsibility—not merely to shareholders, but to the broader Nigerian public.
Don't take Nigerians for granted. Treat the small investor with the same seriousness you would give the institutional investor. Give shareholders transparency. Give them accountability. Give them information. Give them confidence that their money is being managed responsibly. And when the business succeeds, shareholders should have the opportunity to benefit from that success.
Your Greatest Legacy Should Be Bigger Than Your Net Worth
There is nothing wrong with becoming extraordinarily wealthy by building successful businesses.But there comes a point when the conversation should move beyond “How much is Dangote worth?" The more interesting question becomes:How many people became wealthy because Dangote built these businesses?
Imagine the impact if hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who invest today eventually build substantial wealth from their investments. Imagine a young Nigerian who starts with a modest investment and, over decades, builds an investment portfolio capable of paying school fees, buying a home, funding a business or securing retirement. Imagine Nigerian families passing shares from one generation to another. That is how an ownership culture is created.And Nigeria desperately needs an ownership culture.
We Need More Than One Dangote
Nigeria does not simply need another Dangote. Nigeria needs 10,000 Dangotes in different industries.
We need Nigerians who build technology companies, manufacturing companies, agricultural businesses, energy companies, financial institutions, pharmaceutical companies and global brands.But we also need millions of Nigerians who can become shareholders in those businesses. A country becomes economically stronger when wealth creation spreads beyond a handful of extraordinarily wealthy individuals.
The refinery therefore presents an interesting test. Can a Nigerian industrial giant create not just a massive fortune for its founder, but also a new generation of Nigerian investors? Can ordinary Nigerians who put their money into the company eventually look back and say:I was there when it started, and I benefited from its growth”?
That would be a powerful story.
From Billionaire to Wealth Creator
Dangote has already demonstrated that he knows how to create enormous corporate value. The next challenge is different.Can he help create enormous shareholder value for ordinary Nigerians?That is where the conversation about his $51.3 billion fortune becomes relevant.
If one man's wealth can grow by tens of billions of dollars, Nigerians are entitled to ask whether the people who invest alongside him can also experience meaningful wealth creation. Not necessarily overnight.Not necessarily without risk. But over time.That is what investing is supposed to be about.
The Question Nigerians Should Keep Asking
So, Alhaji Dangote, congratulations on reaching another extraordinary milestone.But don't stop at building your own fortune. Build an ecosystem in which others can build theirs. Don't let Nigerians remain merely consumers of Dangote products. Make them owners. Don't let the story end with one Nigerian becoming one of the world's richest people. Let the next chapter be about thousands, perhaps millions, of Nigerians building meaningful wealth through ownership and investment. Because the real measure of an economic giant is not only how high the founder climbs. It is how many people rise because of the platform he created.
So here is the question Nigerians should be asking: Aliko Dangote, OPM has helped take you to the 36th richest person in the world. Now that Nigerians are putting their own money into your empire, how many of those investors will you help turn into millionaires—and, ultimately, billionaires? That is the legacy question.
By Emmanuel Emeke Asiwe (EEA) Publisher/Editor-in- Chief)
In The Spotlight
Mixed metaphors: Eating them young
On this page, I have praised former Minister Nasir el-Rufai for his work in the Federal Capital Territory.
As governor, I praised some of his work, including when he fired state teachers. I also criticised him when he became arrogant and presumptuous.
Powerful people tend to misjudge distance, in terms of how long they will remain powerful, as well as the depth of their relevance, measuring how power, once in the hands of others, can remain in their favour.
El-Rufai made both miscalculations. Following over two decades of untouchability in power from Olusegun Obasanjo to Muhammadu Buhari, he has now spent 200 days in pre-trial detention on ICPC and DSS charges.
This should not happen to a citizen, any citizen. But some citizens, when fate grants them the winning lottery ticket, become Cronus, the Titan in Greek mythology who, to maintain his power, swallowed five of his six children soon after birth.
But not Zeus, his youngest son, who miraculously survived and, becoming the supreme ruler of the Olympian gods and the “Father of Gods and Men, “would exact vengeance.
In power, el-Rufai forgot not only the principle of right and wrong, but also the concept of justice.
But it was right there the whole time: on the flip side of injustice. The truth is that wearing glasses to be able to see arms, nobody to see through clouds.
Last Tuesday’s disruption by political thugs of the visit to Benue State of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, is an early reminder of the temptations of power in a Nigerian election year.
The ruling party controls the state, which is in the thick of Nigeria’s insecurity crisis. Its governor, Hyacinth Alia, is a Catholic priest. Having, in 2025, been involved in trying to prevent the same Obi from a humanitarian visit, claiming that his intervention was purely on security grounds, Mr Alia is trying to persuade the country that his are not the hands behind the crude attempt to stop, particularly Mr Obi, from travelling freely and safely in the state.
As Minister Festus Keyamo wisely said, this kind of menace is not a part of our democracy. Mr Alia, show the world your strengths, not your limitations.
Big news: the 2024 Auditor-General’s Non-Compliance report, published last month, identified over N1.34trn in audit lapses.
It found that the National Cash Transfer Office paid N33.751 billion to 3,295,207 households in 35 states in 2023 with no evidence that the money reached genuine beneficiaries.
The Office could not produce REMITA records to authenticate the payments. SERAP has written to President Tinubu demanding a published audit trail and investigation of the flagged N78.8bn in total irregularities.
Similarly, Femi Falana (SAN) has called on the EFCC to investigate and prosecute officials.
Given that we are dealing with a specific regime of governance coated in colours of ruthlessness, it is doubtful that these calls will yield anything.
The truth is that the situation is worse than what we know so far, and so, I have a different call: that Nigerians pay close attention to what is actually a long-running looting spree of our poorest and most vulnerable. There is a scorched-earth assault going on.
I begin in 2019, the start of the second term of the fake anti-corruption champion Muhammadu Buhari:
The Auditor-General’s 2019 report on the FGN Consolidated Financial Statements discovered that 36 MDAs made individual transfer payments,totalingN15,534,467,561.26, without identifying the beneficiaries, ignoring the relevant budget lines for “Transfers–Payment to Unemployed” and “Transfers–Payment to Aged/Vulnerable Group.” The Auditor-General flagged the risk of “diversion of public funds” and “misapplication of funds.”
The 2020 report is more curious. In the MDA-by-MDA budget-performance schedule, the National Social Investment Office shows: Approved Budget N0.00, Supplementary Budget N0.00, Total Budget N0.00, but the actual spending is N275,010,764,595.02! That is, the NSIO somehow recorded spending N275bn with no budgetary authorisation at all.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2021 Non-Compliance report, Volume II, found under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that N54,630,000,000 in N-Power Batch C1 stipends (the August–December 2021 backlog) was recorded as paid but, per the Auditor-General’s own field visits, “was not actually effected to the beneficiaries.”
The same section found N2,617,090,786 paid for the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (COVID-19 period), the Auditor-General recommending full recovery to the Treasury: a combined N58.05bn flagged in that one ministry in that one year.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
The 2022 Non-Compliance file is titled as Volumes I and II merged, but despite that filename, Volume II appears to be absent, as it excludes Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO or NASSCO, meaning that their work was either not audited at all, or that that specific audit has yet to be published.
Again, and similarly, despite examining the two volumes of the 2023 Non-Compliance report, neither the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, NSIPA, NCTO, NASSCO, N-Power, GEEP nor school feeding appears anywhere, although many other agencies were thoroughly audited.
Surely, somebody has an explanation?
That brings us to the 2024 itemised findings SERAP has publicized: N33.751bn in cash transfers with no beneficiary confirmation; N36.744bn paid in December 2023 without prepayment audit; N4.616bn in unsupported expenditure which the Auditor-General says “may have been diverted”; N350.18m in enrolment payments to state coordinators with no supporting documentation; N89.51m for store items never delivered or logged; N17.42m in diesel cash advances with no traceable purchases; and at NASSCO, N2.24bn paid through 158 vouchers without prepayment audit.
These appear to be the patterns that Nigerian MDAs exhibit in their work every year, with vulnerable Nigerians exploited every year.
But the first challenge is for journalists to track Humanitarian Affairs/NSIPA through every audit year to establish the full carnage.
There is another crisis: that despite all of this, a lot of MDAs still fail to submit audited accounts to the Auditor-General, representing one of Nigeria’s worst accountability challenges. This is a problem that worsened significantly under the Buhari administration despite his anti-corruption rhetoric. According to the Auditor-General, the 2016 audit year saw the highest number of non-submissions (324) in modern Nigerian history: more than double the previous 22-year high of 148. In 2016-2017 alone, 436 agencies failed to submit accounts. Think about that.
President Bola Tinubu is in the middle of a three-week foreign trip, departing without formally informing the National Assembly or handing over to Vice President Shettima, violating the constitution.
For a man who is seeking a second term of office, this is a stark reminder of how little the rules, or for that matter, Nigeria, really matter to Mr Tinubu. Keep in mind that when he headed north, Mr Shettima headed south, to Angola.
The general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly will begin on 22 September. Mr Tinubu is scheduled to speak the following morning.
At a time of chaos and doubt in his leadership, and in democracy under his watch, he will confront the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: a United Nations that delivers for all.”
By Sonala Olumhense