The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has queried 52 contracts worth ₦52.2 million awarded by the Code of Conduct Tribunal in 2023, when Danladi Umar was chairman, citing the absence of evidence that the tribunal transmitted the procurement records to the Bureau of Public Procurement as required by law.
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The contracts form part of three sets of transactions involving more than ₦108 million flagged in the tribunal’s records. The other findings concern ₦46.86 million paid without prepayment audit and ₦9.385 million in expenditure without adequate supporting documents.
The Auditor-General recommended that the tribunal account for the expenditure before the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees, alongside recommendations for recovery, remittance to the treasury and sanctions for non-compliance.
The findings appear in Volume II of the Auditor-General’s Annual Report on Non-Compliance/Internal Control Weaknesses in Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria for 2024. Auditor-General Shaakaa Chira submitted the report to the National Assembly on July 17, 2026, while the disclosures concerning the CCT were reported on October 8, 2026.
Although the audit covers the 2024 financial year, the 52 contracts were awarded in 2023 under Umar’s leadership. However, the report did not specify under whose leadership the related payments were made.
It also did not disclose the nature of the contracts or their individual award dates. Consequently, the transactions cannot conclusively be assigned to either the Buhari or Tinubu presidential administration, as both administrations held office during different parts of 2023.
The procurement finding centred on the tribunal’s failure to provide evidence that it forwarded the records of the 52 contracts to the BPP.
The audit cited Section 16(13) of the Public Procurement Act 2007, which requires procuring entities to transmit copies of their procurement records to the bureau within three months after the end of the financial year.
Those records are expected to identify the procuring entity and contractors, state the dates and values of contract awards, and contain detailed records of the procurement proceedings.
“There was no evidence of transmitting procurement documents to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) who is the statutory body to validate and authenticate due process adhered to during contracts pre-qualification process, and awards concluded,” the audit report stated.
The Auditor-General attributed the lapse to “weaknesses in the internal control system at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja,” warning that such failures created risks of loss of public funds and the award of contracts to ineligible contractors.
In its response, the CCT management blamed the officer responsible for preparing and transmitting the procurement records.
“The management regrets the action of the scheduled officer,” it said, adding that a new officer would comply with the requirement in future.
The Auditor-General rejected the explanation as “unsatisfactory” and retained the finding pending implementation of the recommended actions.
The report recommended that the CCT chairman account for the ₦52.2 million before the Public Accounts Committees. It also recommended recovery and remittance of the money to the treasury, with evidence forwarded to the committees, and sanctions for gross misconduct if the tribunal failed to comply.
However, the reported recommendation did not clarify whether recovery would still be required if the tribunal subsequently supplied satisfactory records accounting for the expenditure.
Beyond the contracts, auditors queried 29 payment vouchers worth ₦46,862,450 that were processed without the required prepayment audit.
According to the report, the tribunal’s Internal Audit Department did not examine the vouchers and their supporting documents before the payments were made.
The audit cited the Financial Regulations 2009, explaining that prepayment checks were intended to ensure that expenditure was properly authorised and supported by the necessary records before public funds were released.
It warned that bypassing the checks exposed the funds to the risk of misappropriation and diversion.
Responding, the tribunal’s management acknowledged the importance of internal controls and promised that all future payment vouchers would undergo prepayment audit.
The Auditor-General nevertheless rejected the response as unsatisfactory and retained the query. It recommended that the tribunal account for the expenditure before the legislative committees, recover and remit the amount to the treasury, and submit evidence of remittance.
Sanctions for irregular payments were also recommended in the event of non-compliance.
The third finding concerned nine payment vouchers valued at ₦9,385,000 for works and the procurement of goods and services.
Auditors said the expenditure lacked relevant supporting documents, including approvals, invoices or receipts, letters of award, Store Receipt Vouchers, Store Issue Vouchers and project files.
The report warned that inadequate documentation created risks of diversion and loss of public funds.
The CCT management said documents had been attached to the payment vouchers but acknowledged that they were insufficient to substantiate the expenditure during the audit.
That explanation was also rejected as unsatisfactory. The Auditor-General recommended that the tribunal account for the money, recover and remit the amount to the treasury, and provide evidence to the Public Accounts Committees, with sanctions for non-compliance.
The latest findings follow earlier audit concerns about the tribunal’s expenditure.
In its 2019 audit report, released in 2021, the Auditor-General’s office queried more than ₦400 million paid to contractors for various projects, saying the tribunal had not provided documents justifying the payments. Those transactions also fell within Umar’s tenure as chairman.
The tribunal’s Chief Registrar, Abdulmalik Shuaibu, subsequently said in December 2021 that the “issue has since been sorted out.” However, the account of the latest findings did not provide documentary confirmation of how the earlier queries were resolved.
The CCT adjudicates alleged breaches of the code of conduct for public officers, including asset declaration violations, abuse of office, bribery and conflicts of interest. Appeals against its decisions proceed to the Court of Appeal and, where applicable, the Supreme Court.
The findings concerning its expenditure remain audit queries and recommendations for accountability. They do not establish that Umar or any other named official stole the funds, nor do they amount to a criminal conviction.
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