An analysis of federal payment records has revealed that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies spent over ₦22.6 billion on estacode, air tickets, and related travel expenses between July 2023 and March 2026, with a sharp spike recorded in 2024 accounting for more than two-thirds of the total expenditure. The data, sourced from a civic accountability platform, shows total estacode spending of ₦22,674,234,602.21 within the period, with spending in 2024 alone reaching ₦15.67 billion.
A breakdown of the figures indicates that a handful of MDAs accounted for a significant share of the expenditure. The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation topped the list with ₦5.15 billion, followed by the Federal Ministry of Sports Development headquarters with ₦3.56 billion. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure recorded ₦1.80 billion, while the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters accounted for ₦1.04 billion. The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, also featured prominently with ₦802.69 million.
Beyond the scale of spending, the analysis uncovered patterns of duplicate and repeated payments across several agencies. In one instance, Police Formations and Commands recorded a ₦10 million payment to a beneficiary three separate times with identical details. Similarly, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation processed duplicate payments of ₦6.6 million for estacode and air tickets to the same beneficiary on the same day. At NIPSS, Kuru, the analysis showed repeated transfers of about ₦7.6 million with only slight variations in reference numbers, suggesting possible reprocessing or payment splitting.
Further scrutiny of transaction-level data shows clusters of payments made on the same day, often with identical descriptions. In several cases, multiple disbursements ranging from ₦5 million to over ₦20 million were processed within a 24-hour window for similar purposes. The findings have raised concerns among fiscal accountability advocates, who argue that the patterns suggest weak internal controls and potential abuse of travel allowances. The government has yet to respond to the specific findings, but the scale of expenditure and the identified irregularities have intensified calls for stricter oversight of public funds allocated to official travel.
