This is in violation of fiscal regulations that prohibit direct payments to individual accounts for official expenses.

A review of the public payments portal, Govspend, by SaharaReporters has revealed that the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), under Senator George Akume, paid N20 million into the personal bank account of a staff member, David Ezeh.

This is in violation of fiscal regulations that prohibit direct payments to individual accounts for official expenses.

The payment was made to fund a send-forth ceremony held in honour of former SGF, Boss Mustapha, covering costs for the venue, multimedia services, miscellaneous expenses, and other logistics related to the event.

This development comes despite explicit provisions of the law.

These payments contravene Chapter Seven, Section 713 of Nigeria's Financial Regulations 2009, which states: “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private account.”

The section further reads: “Any officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”

Interestingly, two years ago, David Ezeh represented the SGF, George Akume, at a stakeholders’ dialogue in Lagos on implementing Section 45 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.

Lawyer Kehinde Awosusi, speaking to SaharaReporters, emphasised that receiving government funds into personal bank accounts is a clear violation of the law.

"Under no circumstances should a civil servant receive government money into a personal account, either government income or government expenditures,” he said. 

“You can look at the case of Betta Edu, and the issues that arose from it, and the clear violations she was accused of committing. It is a clear affront to the position of the law.”

Edu, formerly Nigeria's Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, was suspended by President Bola Tinubu on January 8, 2024, following allegations of financial misconduct involving the unauthorised transfer of ₦585 million into a private account.

The controversy emerged when a memo, allegedly signed by Edu, directed the Accountant General of the Federation to transfer ₦585,198,500 to the personal account of Oniyelu Bridget, a project accountant, purportedly for grants to vulnerable groups in four states.

The Accountant General confirmed receiving the request but did not act on it. Edu defended the action, claiming it adhered to civil service procedures, but the incident sparked public outrage.

President Tinubu ordered an investigation into the financial transactions of her ministry, involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Later, in October 2024, Tinubu carried out a major cabinet reshuffle, dismissing five ministers and nominating seven new ones.

Although Edu’s name was not explicitly mentioned among the sacked ministers, the presidency confirmed that she would not be returning to the cabinet. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated that Edu’s position had already been taken over by Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda, effectively confirming her removal.

The presidency remained silent on the outcome of the EFCC investigation but implied that the findings justified her suspension.

An earlier review by SaharaReporters of data published by the socio-accountability platform Govspend revealed that the Ministry of Arts and Culture violated fiscal regulations by transferring over N23 million into the personal bank account of one of its directors.

According to the data, the payments were made to Akudo-Nwosu Ugochi Nwakaego, in breach of laws prohibiting the deposit of public funds into private accounts.

According to the published details, on December 3, 2019, she was paid N8 million, with the description reading "Abuja Carnival Expenses."

On the same day, another sum of N5.7 million was also paid for "Abuja Carnival Expenses," but again deposited into her private account. Both payments were made by the "Federal Ministry of Information and Culture hqtrs."

On November 25, 2024, the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy paid N10.042 million into her account for the "Celebration of World Culture Day."

The total amount paid into her private account for institutional programmes comes to N23.8 million.