The Tinubu government’s management of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) has come under intense scrutiny following revelations by the Auditor-General that over N6 billion was irregularly withdrawn from the amnesty fund without proper audit checks.
The findings, which cover expenditure between 2020 and 2024, expose a critical breakdown in financial discipline at one of Nigeria’s most sensitive peace and security programmes.
At the same time, budget performance documents show that between January and September 2024 alone, the government spent N48.7 billion on the PAP.
The scale of expenditure, juxtaposed with glaring lapses in accountability, has triggered renewed calls from parliamentarians, civil society actors, and Niger Delta stakeholders for a forensic audit of the scheme.
The N6bn withdrawals without records
The Auditor-General’s report highlights that more than N6 billion was withdrawn without adequate supporting documentation or internal auditing.
This included N1.53 billion in tuition payments to Nigerian universities for students supposedly enrolled under the PAP. Yet, no admission letters, receipts, or identity records were attached to payment vouchers.
In audit terms, such payments constitute a direct breach of Paragraph 708 of the Financial Regulations 2009, which prohibits disbursements for services not performed or goods not supplied.
Further breaches were recorded under Paragraph 603(i) of the same regulations, which mandates full particulars—such as dates, numbers, quantities, and rates—on every voucher.
Instead, the report found payments authorised with scant or missing details, undermining both traceability and accountability.
Multiple cash advances and procurement without evidence
Beyond the irregular withdrawals, the audit flagged systemic failings in the PAP’s internal control environment. A total of N3.62 billion was disbursed without being subjected to internal audit checks.
Officers of the programme received cash advances amounting to N29 million, frequently above the statutory ceiling of N200,000.
Some officers were granted multiple advances without evidence of retiring previous ones.
Equally troubling, N87.7 million was paid for the procurement of store items without any evidence that the goods were recorded on store ledger charge, leaving the possibility that items either did not exist or were diverted.
Management response and deflection
In response, PAP management argued that some of the irregularities cited by the Auditor-General date back to the 2020 and 2021 accounting years, predating the current leadership.
Officials suggested that recent headlines have conflated older audits with present-day practices, and urged Nigerians to consider the timeline of the reports before drawing conclusions.
But analysts insist that whether historical or recent, the audit trail exposes a structural weakness in oversight.
The failure to maintain proper records, they argue, is not a legacy issue but an ongoing culture of weak compliance within a programme whose stability is essential for national security.
A fragile peace at stake
The Amnesty Programme was launched in 2009 to disarm and reintegrate Niger Delta militants who had crippled Nigeria’s oil production through sabotage and kidnappings.
Since then, the federal government has reportedly spent over N1.9 trillion sustaining the programme.
Allocations have consistently run into tens of billions annually, underscoring the state’s reliance on PAP as a peace-buying mechanism in the oil-rich region.
But when billions are disbursed without records, the risk is not only financial wastage but also the erosion of trust.
Ex-combatants, who were promised education, skills training, and economic reintegration, could perceive such irregularities as evidence of betrayal.
That perception has historically fuelled cycles of violence in the Niger Delta.
Security analysts warn that mismanagement of PAP funds could reawaken militant networks and embolden criminal gangs.
In their words, “financial recklessness in a security-sensitive programme is not merely corruption—it is a direct threat to peace.”
The way forward
The National Assembly is under pressure to demand a forensic audit of PAP from 2020 to 2024. Lawmakers are considering measures such as publishing a full register of beneficiaries, enforcing electronic payment systems, and mandating the use of digital receipts for tuition and procurement payments.
Civil society organisations are likewise pushing for the application of the Freedom of Information Act to force disclosure of beneficiary and procurement records.
Experts also call for sweeping reforms in PAP’s internal audit unit, rotation of procurement officers, and automatic suspension of officials who fail to retire cash advances within stipulated timeframes.
These steps, they argue, are essential if PAP is to regain credibility with donors, international partners, and most importantly, the communities it was designed to pacify.
In conclusion, the revelation of N6 billion in irregular withdrawals from the Presidential Amnesty Fund casts a long shadow over the Tinubu administration’s handling of one of Nigeria’s most critical peace-building tools.
While N48.7 billion was spent in just nine months of 2024, what matters is not the size of the allocation but the integrity of its use.
Without urgent reforms, the programme risks becoming a pipeline of corruption rather than a lifeline of peace in the Niger Delta.
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