The Federal Government has moved to curb the rising use of imprest and cash advances following revelations that over N2.27 billion was disbursed under these categories in 2024—a staggering 308% increase from the N556.3 million recorded in 2023.
Imprest refers to a fixed sum allocated to public officers for routine expenses, typically retired quarterly, while cash advances are funds issued for specific administrative tasks or projects—both requiring strict documentation under public finance rules.
Data from GovSpend, a budget tracking platform run by BudgIT, shows that N1.19 billion was released as imprest and N1.08 billion for cash advances so far in 2024. The surge triggered a swift response from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, which issued two new Treasury Circulars dated July 25, 2025.
The circulars introduced new limits—setting a quarterly imprest cap of N700,000 for ministers and restricting cash advances to N10 million for special projects. The move was justified by reports of widespread abuse, fund non-retirement, and repeated payments across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
A breakdown of the 2024 imprest records reveals that the State House Headquarters Transit Account received consistent monthly allocations of N13 million, totalling over N143 million for the year. This mirrors its 2023 disbursement pattern, where identical monthly tranches also summed up to N143 million.
Similarly, the Defence Research and Development Bureau received a series of monthly payments amounting to N97.36 million in 2024, categorised as office imprest and staff grants.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also featured prominently, with three large entries recorded as reversals linked to imprest and forex replenishment, amounting to N954.78 million.
Other notable entries in the 2024 imprest records include N18 million allocated to the Federal University of Technology, Ikot Abasi, for resource verification, and N9.6 million to the Federal Character Commission for special imprest. In comparison, total imprest spending in 2023 stood at just N236.5 million—marking a year-on-year increase of over 404 per cent, driven largely by recurring allocations and substantial reversals.
A similar pattern emerged in the 2024 cash advance data, which recorded a disbursement of N1.08 billion—up 237 per cent from N319.8 million in 2023. The Federal Ministry of Youth Development accounted for a significant share of this amount, with hundreds of millions disbursed across various cash advance lines.
These funds were primarily tagged for waste management training, mentorship programmes, mental health sensitisation, World Youth Skills Day activities, and other zonal outreach events. Key beneficiaries included officers such as Makanta Ibrahim Baba, Lan Mnena Linda, Cornelius Thomas Duba, Dahiru Jibril, and Yahaya Aliyu Lapai, many of whom received recurring multi-million-naira advances within short periods.
Examples include over N29 million for youth feeding programmes under UNIDO initiatives, N62 million for training youth with disabilities in northern Nigeria, and N39 million for commemorative events. Some officers appeared as recipients up to five times within a quarter, raising concerns over compliance with quarterly limits and fund retirement protocols.
The State House also stood out in the cash advance list, with allocations such as N25.6 million for refreshments during a digitisation training for 450 staff, along with several entries tied to retreat honouraria, cabinet item purchases, and Workers’ Day celebrations.
