REPORT: 21 states can’t account for N208b spent in 2022 fiscal year

Twenty-one Nigerian states could not account for missing N208 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI)’s Subnational Audit Efficiency Report for 2023 has shown.

The PLSI’s SAE report, published in April, also listed Lagos as the worst-performing Nigerian state with regard to audit efficiency.

After numerous queries, Cross River alone could not account for N135.9 billion in public funds. The Katsina State government failed to report where N59.5 billion went. Jigawa, Edo and Akwa Ibom had N7.1 billion, N7 billion and N6.2 billion in unaccounted funds, respectively.

Other states with unaccounted funds were Kano, Bayelsa, Niger, Kebbi, Zamfara, Adamawa, Ekiti, Plateau, Kwara, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna, Ondo, Ogun, Bauchi and Benue. Over 90 audit queries were made between Anambra and Osun, but data on the results was unavailable.