N1.63 Billion Web of Questionable Spending Uncovered at Nigeria’s Peace Institute

By Secrets Reporters

SecretsReporters has obtained internal records exposing a pattern of financial irregularities at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) in Abuja, totaling approximately N1.63 billion across multiple transactions.

The findings, drawn from detailed expenditure reviews covering key periods including 2018–2020 and related capital and overhead activities, paint a picture of weak documentation, bypassed procurement rules, and payments that left little verifiable trace of actual delivery.

The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, established in 2000 under the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is mandated to research, prevent, and resolve conflicts across Nigeria and the continent. It operates as a policy think tank and training body with zonal offices. Its current Director-General is Dr. Joseph Ochogwu, who assumed the role in 2023. The irregularities detailed in the records largely concern earlier years and associated spending cycles.

At the heart of the exposure is a single cluster of zonal intervention contracts amounting to N1.11 billion. Records show this sum was disbursed without beneficiary lists, acknowledgements of receipt, or programme reports that would demonstrate the interventions reached intended communities or achieved stated aims.

In an institution whose core business is conflict mitigation and community engagement, the absence of basic proof of execution stands out as particularly stark. Officials reviewing the files flagged the risk of funds being diverted or paid for work that never materialised.

Separate capital-vote payments totaling N197.46 million were made for programmes ranging from climate-change related activities and pastoralist-farmer conflict workshops to a mediation exercise and observation of the 2020 Edo governorship election.

Across 18 vouchers, investigators found no attendance registers, venue documentation, or completion reports. Another N122.21 million went toward instructional and empowerment materials, yet the files contain no names, signatures, or contact details of any beneficiaries who supposedly collected the items.

Consultancy spending of N84.63 million for a peaceful-coexistence sensitisation programme similarly lacked procurement records, technical evaluations, facilitator payment schedules, or attendance evidence.

Project monitoring and evaluation claimed another N20.35 million with no named project locations and no proof that any monitoring visits occurred. A further N43.29 million was recorded against a solar-power scheme in Isumpe-Eke and a borehole in Dangeshumi Local Government Area of Sokoto State, unsupported by needs assessments, bills of quantities, job-completion certificates, or internal audit certification.

Procurement shortcuts appear elsewhere. A foreign-assembled Changan CS35 vehicle (2020 model) was acquired for N10.88 million without competitive bidding or the presidential clearance required to bypass the federal directive favouring locally assembled vehicles.

A N10.51 million consultancy for editing and printing conference proceedings was awarded and paid without evidence of competitive process or internal-auditor certification. Training allowances of N4.57 million paid to 56 newly recruited staff at an unexplained rate of N81,680 each came without attendance registers, photographs, or completion reports.

Overhead vouchers amounting to N26.74 million lacked supporting documents entirely. In addition, 32 contract payments from 2020 generated N118.80 million in unremitted value-added tax, withholding tax, and stamp duty, money that should have flowed to the relevant tax authorities.

Compounding the picture, the Institute had not submitted audited financial statements for 2018, 2019, and 2020 at the time the reviews were conducted, creating obstacles for parliamentary oversight.

Across these transactions, management responses were recorded as absent. The cumulative exposure of roughly N1.63 billion represents one of the more substantial clusters of questioned expenditure in the reviewed materials for agencies of this size and mandate. The risks repeatedly identified include loss of public funds, payments for undelivered goods or services, and potential diversion.

SecretsReporters’ examination of the records shows consistent gaps between money leaving government accounts and any paper trail proving value was received. For an agency tasked with promoting peace and accountable governance, the pattern raises uncomfortable questions about internal controls and the stewardship of public resources allocated for conflict resolution and community programmes.