By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that award contracts without budgetary backing now risk prosecution under Nigeria’s anti-corruption laws, as the Federal Government moves to end the culture of unfunded contracts that has left scores of public projects abandoned nationwide.
The warning was contained in a Federal Treasury Circular dated Friday, 31July 2026, and signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi.
The circular was addressed to ministers, permanent secretaries, heads of extra-ministerial departments and agencies, accounting officers and federal pay officers.
Citing widespread violations of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, and other financial regulations governing public expenditure, the Accountant-General bluntly reminded accounting officers that awarding contracts without adequate funding amounts to a criminal offence.
“Accounting Officers are invited to note that it is an offence under the ICPC Act 2000 to award or sign any contract without budgetary provision, approval and cash backing,” the circular stated.
To back the warning with concrete controls, the circular barred MDAs from issuing letters of award, signing contracts or incurring financial obligations without first obtaining a Warrant or Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE).
“No expenditure shall be incurred except on the authority of a Warrant/AIE (including employee payables). Accordingly, no MDA shall issue letters of award, sign contracts, or enter into any financial obligations unless the corresponding Warrant/AIE covering the full or committed portion of the contract sum has been duly released by the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy to the Accountant-General of the Federation,” it stated.
The Office of the Accountant-General further directed MDAs to download and attach copies of Warrants or AIEs generated through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) as proof that funds are available before contracts are awarded or payments processed, warning that financial commitments, including purchase invoices and employee payables, must not exceed the value of available warrants.
“All MDAs shall ensure that financial commitments (purchase invoices and employee payables) are limited to uncommitted warrant balances; and at no time should financial commitments exceed the amount of Warrants/AIEs available,” the circular said.
In a related directive, the Bureau of Public Procurement was instructed to process only requests for “No Objection” certificates that are supported by valid Warrants or AIEs, effectively shutting the door on any procurement process not backed by verified funding.
Beyond the enforcement measures, the government also directed all MDAs to submit annual and quarterly cash plans for their capital budgets to the Office of the Accountant-General.
According to the circular, annual cash plans, commencing from July 15, 2026, alongside the first quarterly cash plan, were to be submitted on or before July 31, 2026, while subsequent quarterly cash plans must be submitted on or before the 15th day of the first month of each new quarter.
The circular explained that the fresh operational guidelines had become necessary to strengthen and deepen the implementation of the government’s cash management policy, following observed non-compliance with extant procurement laws and regulations across MDAs.
It disclosed that the Cash Management Technical Committee would continue reviewing budget implementation plans and advising the Federal Cash Management Committee on priority projects, while accounting officers and directors of finance would bear responsibility for ensuring prudent cash management in their respective institutions.
The Office of the Accountant-General urged all accounting officers, chief executives, directors of finance, internal auditors and other relevant officials to give the circular “the widest circulation and compliance.”
The fresh crackdown strengthens the Federal Government’s revised cash management policy introduced in 2024, as the Tinubu administration continues to push fiscal discipline, transparency and value for money in public expenditure.
The directive is expected to reduce the number of abandoned projects littered across the country, curb the accumulation of unpaid contractual liabilities, and ensure that capital projects proceed only when sufficient budgetary provisions and cash backing are firmly in place.
