Fifteen Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies breached procurement rules in the award of contracts valued at N19.91 billion, the Auditor-General for the Federation has disclosed.
The infractions were contained in the Auditor-General’s 2024 Annual Report on Non-Compliance, Volume One, obtained and analysed and first published by THE POINT.
The report specifically identified contracts awarded by the affected MDAs in violation of prescribed procurement due process.
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority, Abuja, recorded the highest value of contracts affected by the breaches, with N14.70 billion.
This accounted for a substantial portion of the total value of contracts identified under the due-process category, indicating the scale of the procurement concerns raised against the agency.
The report said the infractions involved failure by the affected institutions to comply with established procedures governing the award of public contracts.
At the other end of the scale, the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development recorded the lowest value of contracts in this category, at N18.58 million.
The Auditor-General’s findings are contained in a broader assessment of procurement compliance across federal institutions.
In a separate category, the report also identified irregularities in the award of contracts valued at N76.96 billion involving 29 MDAs, bringing the combined value of contracts affected by the two categories of procurement infractions to N96.87 billion.
The audit findings were based on an assessment of compliance with provisions governing public procurement and financial management.
According to the report, Paragraph 2921(1) of the Financial Regulations 2009 requires public entities to adopt open competitive bidding in the procurement of goods, works, and services, thereby ensuring a level playing field for prospective contractors.
The requirement is intended to promote transparency, competition, and fairness in the use of public funds, particularly in the award of contracts by government institutions.
The Auditor-General also cited provisions of the Public Procurement Act 2007, which place responsibility on accounting officers for actions or omissions relating to compliance with procurement requirements.
Section 16(21) of the Act provides for the accountability of accounting officers for compliance with, or contravention of, the provisions of the law.
The report further noted that Section 19 of the Act requires the approval of the appropriate approving authority before contracts are awarded.
The breaches identified across the 15 MDAs therefore raised concerns over adherence to established procedures in the award and execution of public contracts.
Beyond individual procurement infractions, the Auditor-General identified recurring weaknesses in internal control systems across several federal institutions.
The report described the situation as indicative of “pervasive control deficiencies and institutional lapses,” pointing to weaknesses that could undermine effective oversight of public expenditure.
Such weaknesses, the report indicated, require corrective measures to strengthen compliance and ensure that procurement processes are subjected to appropriate checks before public funds are committed.
The audit observations and recommendations have been brought to the attention of the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly for consideration and appropriate action.
The Auditor-General urged relevant authorities to address the identified deficiencies, enforce accountability, and put measures in place to prevent a recurrence of the infractions.
The report said the aggregation of the findings provides the National Assembly and other stakeholders with a consolidated picture of the magnitude, pattern, and financial implications of procurement non-compliance across federal MDAs.
It stressed the need for stronger institutional controls and compliance mechanisms to ensure that public procurement processes are conducted transparently and in accordance with extant laws and regulations.
