Federal Energy Research Centre at UNN Ran Up Nearly ₦686 Million in Unauthorised Spending, Doubtful Payments and Audit Bypasses

Secrets Reporters

The National Centre for Energy Research and Development (NCERD), a federal research institution hosted at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and supervised by the Energy Commission of Nigeria, incurred nearly ₦686 million in questionable expenditure between 2019 and 2020, according to information exclusively obtained by SecretsReporters.

The findings reveal that the Centre overspent its capital budget by more than half a billion naira without evidence of National Assembly authorisation, paid consultants ₦8.64 million for services for which basic documentary evidence could not be produced, and processed tens of millions of naira in payment vouchers without the mandatory pre-payment internal audit.

Across three separate findings, the total amount flagged stands at approximately ₦685.98 million. Available records show that no substantive management response was provided to the queries raised over the transactions.

The findings recommended that the affected sums be properly accounted for and, where expenditures could not be justified, recovered and remitted to the Treasury, with applicable sanctions under the Financial Regulations.

The Centre was established to lead research and development in renewable and alternative energy technologies, energy management and environmental issues. Located on the UNN campus, it is one of the specialised energy research centres established under the Energy Commission of Nigeria to develop national capacity in areas including solar energy, biomass, energy efficiency and other alternative energy technologies.

Public records list Engr. Dr Izuchukwu Francis Okafor as the current Acting Director. Professor Godwin Unachukwu previously served in an acting capacity. The specific individual who held the position throughout the 2018–2020 period could not be independently confirmed from publicly available records.

The largest issue concerns extra-budgetary capital expenditure. In 2019, the Centre exceeded its Capital Expenditure Account by ₦434.36 million. In the following year, it overspent by another ₦132.28 million, bringing the combined unauthorised expenditure to ₦566.65 million.

The financial rules governing public expenditure require spending to remain within amounts approved by the National Assembly, while additional expenditure is expected to receive prior appropriation or an approved virement.

However, information exclusively obtained by SecretsReporters indicates that no such authorisation was found in the records examined in relation to the additional spending. The transaction was considered to carry risks including diversion and loss of public funds.

The Centre was consequently required to justify the expenditure or recover the affected amount, with sanctions under the relevant Financial Regulations applicable where satisfactory justification could not be provided.

A second finding concerns ₦8.64 million paid to two consultants in December 2019 for training and skills-acquisition services reportedly delivered in Abia State. However, the records examined could not establish that the services had actually been delivered. There were reportedly no attendance registers, event photographs or completion certificates to substantiate the training activities for which the consultants were paid.

The absence of basic evidence supporting the expenditure raised questions about whether the services were executed as claimed.

Recovery of the ₦8.64 million was recommended unless the Centre could provide satisfactory evidence and justification for the expenditure, with applicable sanctions to follow where necessary.

The third issue relates to the Centre’s internal payment controls. Nine payment vouchers totalling ₦110.69 million and processed between February and August 2019 reportedly bypassed the mandatory pre-payment internal audit process.

Under the applicable Financial Regulations, payment vouchers are required to undergo pre-payment audit before funds are released, with the process expected to take place within the stipulated period.

No satisfactory explanation was provided for why the nine vouchers bypassed the control mechanism.

The absence of the mandatory pre-payment audit created a heightened risk that public funds could have been released for unexecuted works, unsupported expenses or expenditures that had not been properly appropriated.

The Centre was consequently required to account for the affected expenditure and recover any amount that could not be satisfactorily justified.

Taken together, the three findings place approximately ₦685.98 million in expenditure under serious scrutiny. The revelations form part of a wider pattern of fiscal and procurement concerns across federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

Information contained in the findings indicates that extra-budgetary expenditure across 256 agencies and institutions exceeded ₦284 billion during the period under review.

Energy-sector institutions have also repeatedly featured in subsequent financial and procurement concerns, while civil society organisations have continued to demand stronger accountability in the management of public resources within the sector.

In late 2025, the Network Against Corruption and Anti-Drug Trafficking publicly called for a presidential investigation into the Energy Commission of Nigeria over alleged secret contract awards and procurement violations.

The situation is particularly concerning given the strategic mandate of the NCERD.

Nigeria continues to grapple with inadequate electricity supply, high energy costs, dependence on conventional energy sources and the urgent need to expand renewable energy capacity.

Institutions such as the NCERD were created to provide the research, innovation, technical knowledge and human capacity required to address those challenges.

Yet the financial issues uncovered in the Centre’s 2019 and 2020 transactions raise questions about whether resources allocated to energy research were subjected to the level of financial discipline expected of a federal institution.

The apparent absence of substantive responses to the three queries is also significant.

Accounting officers are required under the applicable Financial Regulations to respond to financial and audit observations and provide explanations or supporting documents where expenditures are questioned.

The combination of large capital expenditure outside approved budgetary limits, payments lacking basic supporting documentation and payment vouchers processed without the required internal audit points to serious weaknesses in the Centre’s financial control framework during the period under review.

As of the most recent publicly available information, SecretsReporters could not establish that the recommended recoveries totalling nearly ₦686 million have been fully effected or that sanctions have been imposed specifically in relation to these 2019–2020 findings.

The Centre continues its research activities under the current acting leadership of Engr. Dr Izuchukwu Francis Okafor, while Nigeria’s broader energy research architecture remains under scrutiny over both performance and accountability.

The revelations raise critical questions about the stewardship of public funds allocated to institutions established to develop solutions to Nigeria’s energy crisis.