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The federal government is set to forfeit a $10million dollar loan from the World Bank due to audit deficiencies and delays in launching a national budget portal.
Additionally, the forfeiture is coming amidst a slow implementation of revenue assurance system.
Findings from the document obtained by Daily Trust showed that the fund is part of the $103 million fiscal governance and institutions project (FGIP).
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The FGIP is a public financial management initiative financed through a credit facility from the International Development Association, a lending arm of the World Bank.
The detail of the forfeiture is contained in the World Bank’s June 2025 restructuring paper addressed to the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF).
“The FMF has requested cancellation of $0.9 million of unused funds for Technical Assistance (TA) and $9.5 million, which is the amount allocated to 10 performance-based conditions (PBCs) which will not be achieved by the close of the project on June 30, 2025,” the document stated.
Among the cancelled items is a $4 million audit of key revenue-generating agencies — the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) — which was deemed substandard by the bank.
“These intermediate results (IRs) to be implemented by the OAuGF were assessed as not achieved by the independent verification agent (IVA) because the reports submitted for verification did not meet the requisite international auditing standards,” the World Bank said.
“Deployment of a National Budget Portal to publish the capital budgets of the FGN and at least 20 states by the BOF, with an allocation of $1 million. The BOF did not submit evidence of achievement for the IR.
“Implementation of the Revenue Assurance and Billing System (RABS), with an allocation of $4.5 million. Two IRs – 2.5 and 2.6 – were submitted for verification but were assessed in IVA Report 6 as not achieved.
“This was because there was evidence for only 27 out of the 55 FGOEs setting up a Treasury Single Account (TSA) sub-account for foreign earned revenues, and there was no automatic split and transfer of foreign earned revenues to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) as required.
“The remaining IRs 2.7-2.9 will not be achieved before the project closes because of delays due to: (i) Contract management issues: the FMF is in the process of expanding the RABS implementation consortium to include another vendor, (ii) pending finalization of the indemnity letter requested by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from the FMF to ensure that the CBN is not liable for any potential errors arising from the automatic transfers of funds from the TSA sub-accounts of FGOEs to the CRF.
“Given these delays, RABS implementation is expected to be completed in August 2025, which will be after FGIP closes.” it added.
Other details of the document
Further checks by Daily Trust revealed that despite missed targets by Nigeria, the FGIP recorded progress in other areas, including revenue performance.
The Bretton Woods institution further noted that non-oil revenue was 153 per cent of the budgeted target in 2024, up from a baseline of 64.9 per cent in 2018.
It attributed the increase to Nigeria’s exchange rate unification policy, improved tax administration via the TaxProMax system, and reforms that automated revenue remittances from ministries and agencies.
In addition, the report said the capital expenditure execution remains below expectations at 50 per cent, short of the 65 per cent target.
It added that Nigeria exceeded expectations in publishing reconciled economic and fiscal datasets, achieving 10 publications against the project target of six.
However, project monitoring and evaluation were rated as “moderately unsatisfactory” by the global bank.
Other areas of progress include the launch of the electronic register of beneficial owners by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), which now covers about 40 per cent of registered businesses, the publication of a national asset registry, and financial reports by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).
It noted that the final disbursement on the project is estimated at $96.04 million, which represents 93 per cent of the pre-cancellation total of $103 million.
What $10m can do
Further analysis by the Daily Trust showed that the forfeited amount, which is the equivalent to N15.77 billion with current exchange rate of N1,568 per dollar, could have aided the country in addressing part of its infrastructural deficits.
The amount is enough to build about 40 Primary Healthcare Centres, construct 300 boreholes and purchase 500 transformers for underserved communities.
The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency had noted that it will cost a minimum of N120 million to construct a standard Primary health care centre.
As such, 40 Primary Healthcare Centres could have been built in different geopolitical zones at the rate of N4.8 billion
Similarly, a market survey by the Daily Trust showed that to construct a standard hand pump borehole is estimate at N20 million, as such 300 boreholes can be constructed in different local governments at the rate of N6 billion
Also, Daily Trust understands that a 33kva transfer will cost a minimum of N10m to purchase, as such 500 transformers could have been purchased at the rate of N5 billion
$50m wholesale investment fund underway – Edun
Meanwhile, the federal government on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to a sustainable economic growth through a landmark $50 million investment in the Nigeria Wholesale Impact Investment Fund (WIIF), anchoring the fund’s first close at $100 million.
The initiative supports the vision of achieving 7% annual economic growth, with a focus on critical sectors including agriculture, infrastructure, and digital innovation.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, hosted a high-level delegation comprising leaderships from the Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), the Global Steering Group (GSG) for Impact Investment, and key private-sector stakeholders.
The meeting, attended by Mrs Ibukun Awosika (Chairman, IIF/GSG), Mr Wale Adeosun (CEO, Kuramo Capital), Ms Sanyade Okoli (Special Adviser to the President on Finance & Economy), and Mrs Lydia Shehu Jafiya (Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance), underscored the government’s resolve to leverage impact investment as a catalyst for job creation and poverty alleviation.
A statement by the ministry noted that during the session, stakeholders reviewed the operational framework for the WIIF and agreed on actionable next steps, including structured engagement with the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) to finalise the fund’s drawdown schedule.
Additionally, the WIIF will be strategically aligned with the African Development Bank (AfDB)-supported Youth Entrepreneurship Bank to amplify opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
The statement quoted the Minister of Finance as stating that “This partnership exemplifies the power of public-private collaboration in advancing Nigeria’s economic priorities. We are committed to ensuring transparency, efficiency, and measurable impact in deploying these resources to benefit all Nigerians.”
The initiative is projected to unlock significant financing for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and generate millions of jobs across priority sectors.
Nigeria needs to be more proactive – Expert
Meanwhile, a development economist, Joseph Momoh, noted that one of Nigeria’s problems is not being proactive in meeting up with requirements for credit assessment.
“Overtime, we have seen that Nigeria as a country is always reactive rather than proactive in dealing with multinational institutions when accessing credit and the recent example is this forfeiture
“We couldn’t meet audit standards and develop a portal which was part of the requirements all the while. Therefore, there is a need for custodians of our economy to sit up and do their jobs well so as to avoid future occurrences because that money would have done something for the country in terms of infrastructure development,” he said.
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