The Federal Government has launched a major clampdown on the escalating misuse of imprest and cash advance allocations by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), after official records revealed that disbursements surged from ₦556.3 million in 2023 to over ₦2.27 billion in 2024—a staggering 308% increase.
Imprest—funds issued for routine operating expenses reimbursable quarterly—and special cash advances for specific projects must now adhere to stricter thresholds and enhanced documentation protocols.
Data from GovSpend, the public finance tracking platform run by BudgIT, shows that in 2024, ₦1.19bn was disbursed as imprest, and ₦1.08bn as cash advances. This inflow is a significant jump from the prior year’s ₦556.3m total.
Notable anomalies in these figures include repeated allocations to the State House HQTRS Transit Account (~₦13m monthly), amounting to over ₦143m annually, and ₦97.36m issued to the Defence Research and Development Bureau. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission logged reversal claims totaling ₦954.78m under forex and imprest usage. Worker programmes across youth and federal ministries similarly received multi-million-naira disbursements, prompting scrutiny over adherence to regulations.
In two Treasury Circulars dated July 25, 2025, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation unveiled caps on spending limits and tightened oversight mechanisms. Key reforms include:
Ministerial imprest limit: ₦700,000 per quarter
Permanent Secretaries / DGs: ₦500,000
Directors / Department Heads: ₦300,000
Other authorised officials: ₦100,000
The circular mandates that standing imprests be reimbursed at most once per quarter, and capped at twice in exceptional cases. This aims to eliminate duplication of payments and streamline fiscal discipline.
All local procurement exceeding ₦1 million must now follow contract award procedures per the Public Procurement Act, 2007. Imprests must be managed through dedicated Operational Bank Accounts, with monthly reporting on funds accessed and retired.
The Treasury Inspectorate Department has been assigned to conduct routine inspections across MDAs. Violations may result in loss of imprest access privileges and sanctions under federal financial regulations.
Officials must submit detailed reports—within 30 days—on 2024 imprest retirements, including a list of eligible recipients and designated spend locations for 2025.
The reforms are part of broader fiscal management efforts aimed at enhancing transparency across the civil service, reducing leakages, and ensuring stricter accountability of public funds.
Political oversight bodies have added pressure. The Senate Finance Committee has threatened to withhold 2025 budget allocations from any MDA that fails to account for 2024 expenditure. Similarly, the House Public Accounts Committee recommended delisting 23 agencies from the upcoming budget for repeated reporting failures.
These moves underscore a growing parliamentary demand for fiscal discipline and responsiveness from public institutions.
By abolishing personal cash advances and replacing them with capped project-specific advances (max ₦10m), the government signals a shift toward professionalism and stronger internal controls. Starting August 1, 2025, exceptions will be limited to legally sanctioned cases.
Agencies must now manage advances in real time, with annual reconciliations mandatory to ensure advances are cleared within the fiscal year. Borrowing from capital or special funds for recurrent expenditures is strictly prohibited.
This crackdown comes as part of a broader push to institutionalise transparency and efficiency within government finance management. Higher revenue figures earlier in the year were credited partly to administrative reforms across MDAs.
As Nigeria implements its ₦54.99 trillion 2025 budget—its largest yet—authorities appear determined to curb misuse before allocations are released. These reforms are also seen as part of Nigeria’s efforts to meet conditions for improved international financial standing.