The office attributed the irregularities largely to weaknesses in the NPC’s internal control system and recommended that the commission’s Director-General account to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees and recover billions of naira for remittance to the Treasury.
The National Population Commission (NPC) awarded and paid for census-related contracts worth billions of naira without adequate evidence of delivery, according to the Auditor-General for the Federation, who said it also inflated the prices of some contracts and breached procurement rules.
The report examined the commission’s activities for the 2023 financial year and identified several breaches involving contracts for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile device management, local content, information technology infrastructure and other census-related procurements.
The findings on the NPC involve more than N245 billion in contracts and payments. The office attributed the irregularities largely to weaknesses in the NPC’s internal control system and recommended that the commission’s Director-General account to the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees and recover billions of naira for remittance to the Treasury.
In several of the cases, the NPC did not respond to the audit queries. The auditor general consequently said the findings remained valid until the commission implemented the recommendations.
During the 2023 audit period, Ojogun Osifo served as the Director-General of the National Population Commission (NPC). He was appointed to the position by the late former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2022. His tenure expired in July 2026, after which President Bola Tinubu appointed Abuh Muhammed as his successor.
The largest finding concerns N131.56 billion paid for the procurement of 800,000 PDAs and accessories for the planned 2023 population and housing census.
According to the report, the NPC awarded contracts worth N131 billion to six contractors between 1 December 2022 and 2 May 2023.
The commission told auditors that it had received 760,000 of the 800,000 devices.
But the auditors said the NPC failed to provide credible evidence that the devices had been delivered.
The report said there were no store receipt vouchers, delivery notes, waybills or inspection reports to substantiate receipt of the devices. Instead, the commission relied on handwritten entries on unofficial papers.
The audit team was also denied access to physically inspect the locations where the devices were supposedly stored or deployed.
The auditor general said the failure was attributable to weaknesses in the NPC’s internal control system.
The finding breached paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations, which provides that payment should not be made for goods not supplied or services not performed. It also cited paragraph 603(i), which requires payment vouchers to contain full particulars and be supported by relevant documents.
The auditor-general recommended that the NPC Director-General account to the Public Accounts Committees for the entire N131.56 billion, recover and remit the money to the Treasury and submit evidence of the remittance to the committees.
The report further recommended sanctions under paragraphs 3106 and 3115 of the Financial Regulations for irregular payments and failure to account for public funds.
The auditors also found that the NPC inflated three PDA contracts by a combined N1.45 billion.
The report said the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had approved the supply of 80,000 Gisen Tab A7 Lite 8 devices for N7.36 billion. The NPC, however, awarded a contract for Seedstar PDAs at N7.85 billion, resulting in an alleged N485.57 million increase.
The auditors said the BPP-approved Gisen devices had been tested and certified by the original equipment manufacturer for compatibility with biometric applications, encryption systems and census data capture software.
The Seedstar devices, by contrast, lacked BPP validation and OEM recognition and had weaker processors, lower resolution and shorter battery life, according to the report.
The auditors said this created a risk of device failure and inefficiency during enumeration.
In another case, the BPP approved a contract for 70,000 Digi Tab A7 devices for N6.399 billion. The NPC subsequently instructed the contractor to supply unspecified Tab A7 Lite devices for N6.865 billion, resulting in an alleged N465.34 million inflation.
A third contract for 50,000 Itec Tab A7 devices and accessories was also approved by the BPP at benchmark prices. The NPC later instructed the contractor to supply Tab A7 Lite devices at inflated unit rates, according to the report.
The resulting inflation was put at N496.72 million.
The three contracts therefore produced a combined alleged inflation of N1.447 billion.
The auditor-general said the actions violated Section 31(3) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, which prohibits price changes or substantive changes to bids after the procurement process.
The report identified diversion and loss of government funds as risks and said the NPC did not respond to the audit query.
The director-general was asked to account for the N1.447 billion, recover and remit it to the Treasury and provide evidence of payment to the National Assembly.
The report also questioned the NPC’s handling of a N4.429 billion Mobile Device Management contract.
The contract was awarded on 19 April 2023 for the execution of the 2023 population and housing census.
