Auditor-General finds no delivery records for N131.56bn of census tablets; the 2026 Appropriation Act gives the census itself N770m

Between 1 December 2022 and 2 May 2023 the National Population Commission awarded contracts "totaling N131,559,517,295.72" to six contractors for 800,000 Personal Digital Assistants and accessories, the handheld tablets meant to make the 2023 count Nigeria's first digital census. That is the first finding on the Commission in the Auditor-General for the Federation's 2024 Annual Report on Non-compliance, Volume II, on page 659. The Commission claimed to have received 760,000 of the devices. For those, the auditors found "no credible evidence of supply such as Stores Receipt Vouchers (SRVs), Delivery Notes, Waybills, or inspection reports"; instead, the report says, "the Commission relied on handwritten notations on unofficial paper to substantiate receipt." The auditors were not allowed to inspect where the devices were stored or deployed.

The census those tablets were bought for has not taken place. It was set for 3 to 7 May 2023, and President Muhammadu Buhari approved its postponement shortly before, leaving the new date to his successor. Three and a half years later, the 2026 Appropriation Act, on page 2557, still carries the Commission's project ERGP22180415, "NATIONAL POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS", marked ONGOING, with N770,000,000 for the year. The device contracts the auditors queried are 170.86 times that sum.

Vero Record read the nine pages on the Commission in the Auditor-General's report, pages 659 to 667, which cover 1 January to 31 December 2023, and the Commission's pages in the 2026 Appropriation Act, pages 2555 to 2558. Under every one of the seven issues the auditors raised, the report records the Commission's answer in the same two words: "No response."

On the tablets, the auditors asked the Director-General to account to the Public Accounts Committees of the National Assembly for N131,559,517,295.72, "being payment for PDAs without evidence of delivery", and to recover and remit the same sum to the Treasury. Divided across 800,000 units, the contracts come to N164,449.40 per device with its accessories. The report does not say how much of the contract value had been paid out by the end of 2023, and it does not say what happened to the 40,000 devices that were awarded but, on the Commission's own claim, never received.

The second finding, on pages 660 and 661, is headed "Inflation of contracts prices" and totals N1,447,631,500.00. The Bureau of Public Procurement cleared 80,000 Gisen Tab A7 Lite 8 devices at N7,360,000,000.00; the Commission instead awarded a contract for Seedstar PDAs at N7,854,574,400.00. The auditors describe the Seedstar devices as lacking BPP validation and as having "weaker processors, lower resolution, and reduced battery life." A second contract, for 70,000 Digi Tab A7 devices cleared at N6,399,540,000.00, became an award at N6,864,877,600.00, a difference of N465,337,600.00. A third, set out in a table of five items for 50,000 units each, adds N496,719,500.00 over approved benchmark prices.

Vero Record re-added those figures. The table's five rows add correctly to N496,719,500.00, and the second contract's difference is exact. The first is not: N7,854,574,400.00 less N7,360,000,000.00 is N494,574,400.00, while the report states the inflation as N485,574,400.00, N9,000,000.00 less. The report's own total of N1,447,631,500.00 is built on the lower figure, so on the audit's own prices the three differences come to N1,456,631,500.00.

The fourth finding, on pages 663 and 664, concerns local content. The Federal Executive Council approved a 60 per cent foreign and 40 per cent local split for the devices, and the BPP's due process report of 15 November 2022 directed that the company holding the foreign share should not take part in the local share. The Commission awarded that company N85,272,941,295.72 for 480,000 PDAs and then a further N11,571,644,000.00 for 80,000 more. The two add to N96,844,585,295.72. The report's heading rounds this to N96,800,000,000.00, and its text spells the sum out as "Ninety eight billion, eight hundred million", a different figure again.

The remaining findings follow the same project. The Commission paid N4,429,000,000.00 on 15 May 2023, after the census was postponed, for a subscription to manage the 800,000 devices; the auditors say the subscriptions "expired without being utilized for census" and record the Director-General's explanation that they were used "in the course of carrying out normal official activities", for which no evidence was given. The auditors also say 33,304 devices were sent to Lagos beyond the zonal plan in a Federal Executive Council memorandum, that a N6,230,605,039.00 ICT building contract was executed without a bill of quantities, and that a N4,734,898,817.00 ICT contract went to a firm without the required technical capacity or an unconditional advance payment guarantee.

The record supports the Commission on some points. The device purchases were approved in principle by the Federal Executive Council and the BPP, and the audit's complaint on the largest sum is missing proof of delivery, not a finding that no devices exist; the Commission says 760,000 arrived. The postponement of the census was a presidential decision, not the Commission's. The 2026 Act also shows where the Commission's capital now goes: N8,400,000,000 for permanent office buildings and N2,800,000,000 for official vehicles, both larger than the census line, out of total capital of N12,794,316,285.

The documents establish what the auditors recorded about the Commission's 2023 books and what the National Assembly appropriated for 2026. They do not establish that any money was stolen or that any device is missing, and no court has made any finding on these contracts. The audit names none of the contractors, does not say how much was paid against the N131,559,517,295.72, and does not say where the 760,000 devices are today. Whether the Public Accounts Committees have heard these queries is not in the documents. The findings overlap and must not be added together: the local content contracts and the price findings sit inside the tablet procurement.

We invite a response from the Chairman and the Director-General of the National Population Commission, in particular on where the 760,000 devices are held and whether the Stores Receipt Vouchers the auditors asked for exist. Any response will be published in full.

What this rests on

AuGF 2024 Annual Report on Non-compliance Vol. II, National Population Commission, report pp.659-667 (PDF pp.224-232), period 1 Jan to 31 Dec 2023; Management's Response "No response." under all seven issues. Issue 1 (p.659): contracts totaling N131,559,517,295.72 for 800,000 PDAs and accessories, six contractors, 1 Dec 2022 to 2 May 2023; 760,000 claimed received. 800,000 - 760,000 = 40,000. 131,559,517,295.72 / 800,000 = 164,449.40. Issue 2 (pp.660-661): 7,854,574,400.00 - 7,360,000,000.00 = 494,574,400.00 (report says 485,574,400.00; gap 9,000,000.00); 6,864,877,600.00 - 6,399,540,000.00 = 465,337,600.00 (matches); table 333,384,000 + 41,843,500 + 59,962,500 + 39,159,500 + 22,370,000 = 496,719,500 (matches); report total 485,574,400 + 465,337,600 + 496,719,500 = 1,447,631,500.00; with recomputed first item 494,574,400 + 465,337,600 + 496,719,500 = 1,456,631,500.00. Issue 3 (p.662): N4,429,000,000.00 paid 15 May 2023. Issue 4 (pp.663-664): 85,272,941,295.72 + 11,571,644,000.00 = 96,844,585,295.72 vs heading N96,800,000,000.00 and words 'Ninety eight billion, eight hundred million'. Issue 5 (pp.664-665): 378 + 26,499 + 6,427 = 33,304 extra devices to Lagos. Issue 6 (pp.665-666): N6,230,605,039.00. Issue 7 (p.667): N4,734,898,817.00. 2026 Appropriation Act p.2557: ERGP22180415 National Population and Housing Census ONGOING 770,000,000; office buildings 8,400,000,000; vehicles 2,800,000,000; total capital 12,794,316,285; total allocation 31,959,208,037. 131,559,517,295.72 / 770,000,000 = 170.86. Days from 2 May 2023 to 23 Oct 2026: 366 + 365 + 365 + 174 = 1,270.

What this does not establish

The documents do not establish theft, diversion or any crime; no court has ruled on these contracts. The audit does not name the six contractors, does not say how much of N131,559,517,295.72 was paid by 31 December 2023, and does not say where the 760,000 devices are now or whether they still work. The Commission gave no response in the report, so its side of each issue is unknown. The N9,000,000.00 gap in Issue 2 and the two versions of the Issue 4 sum may be typing errors in the report; we cannot tell which figure the auditors meant. The census dates and postponement rest on a federal government statement, not on the audit. Whether the Public Accounts Committees have taken up these queries is not in the documents. Findings overlap and must not be summed.