Secrets Reporters
A government ministry does not run on personal bank transfers. Government financial system in the world is built to route money to verified vendors, contractors and service providers, not into the individual accounts of staff members, who then become the sole party responsible for what happens to it next.
Yet a purview into the Federal Ministry of Interior Headquarters payment records between 2024 and 2026 by SecretsReporters shows N88,039,739.74 paid out across 13 transactions directly into the personal accounts of eleven named officers, money described as allowances, advances, estacode and duty tour payments.
Eleven individuals with thirteen transactions and nearly N88 million is what SecretsReporters discovered one by one paid under the supervision of Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who is eyeing Ondo State Governorship ticket against the incumbent governor.
On 28th April 2026, Elabor Mohammed Segir received N10,705,000.00 which was described as payment “to the above-named officer and others” for the Joint Union Negotiation Council’s celebration of Labour Week.
Okonji, Mr. Dumebi Emmanuel received N9,236,976.74 on 13th May 2025, described as expenses “IFO ADS Prestige Ltd” for delivery and facilitation of a four-day training programme. This payment is public money for a named company’s services, routed instead through an individual officer’s personal account.
On Christmas eve of 2025, Attamah Emmanuel Amaechi was paid N8,793,813.00 as an estacode allowance for attending “UNGA 80” which is the 80th United Nations General Assembly.
Hafusat Suleiman Ahmed received N7,500,000.00 on the same Christmas eve for payment described only as a “non-personal advance” for a course fee.
Just two days after the Christmas celebration of 2024, Mr. Sunday received N6,900,000.00 for “fuelling of Ministry utility vehicles” for the Honourable Minister and Permanent Secretary’s fourth-quarter 2024 needs. This fuel expense was paid not to a fuel station or supplier, but directly to an individual staff member.
Edward-Amodu, Mrs. Ori Mary received N12,375,000.00 across two payments notably N5,475,000.00 in July 2024 and 6,900,000.00 in December 2025, both described as allowances for NSCDC personnel deployed to the Ministry, paid “in favour of” dozens of unnamed officers routed through her single personal account.
Garba Lawal Muhammed received N11,920,450.00 across two Duty Tour Allowance payments in April 2024; N6,312,000.00 to accompany the Permanent Secretary to Kano, and N5,608,450.00 to accompany the Permanent Secretary to Lagos, Osogbo and Akure.
Atta Dudu Yemi Karis, Okezie Chinomoso Francisca Okwuchi, and Yakubu Rabiat each received exactly N5,000,000.00 to N5,608,500.00 on the same day, 24th December 2025, under the identical payment batch number 1001364002, each described in near-identical language as a “non-personal advance” for “calibration by appraiser committee of staff.”
Achor, Mrs. Ezinne Cynthia received N5,000,000.00 on 5th March 2024 for a “Year 2023 Senior Staff Committee Promotion Exercise.”
The most striking pattern in the payments authorized by Tunji-Ojo is what happened on 24th December 2025 which is Christmas Eve. Five separate individual payments, ranging from N5,000,000.00 to N8,793,813.00, were processed under the identical batch number 1001364002, on the same date, described using nearly identical boilerplate language: “non-personal advance,” “calibration by appraiser committee,” “estacode allowance,” “course fee.” Combined, this single-day batch moved N31,902,313.00 into five individual staff accounts. A cluster of large personal disbursements processed together, on a public holiday eve, under generic descriptions that repeat word-for-word across different officers, is precisely the pattern financial oversight systems are built to catch and precisely the pattern that, unexamined, allows money to move without anyone having to individually justify it.
Why ‘Non-Personal Advance’ and ‘Fuelling’ payments to individuals are red flag
A “non-personal advance” is, by its own name, meant to be retired against actual expenditure incurred on behalf of the Ministry, not treated as a personal windfall. A fuel expense for government vehicles is meant to be paid to the fuel supplier and the Ministry’s own account statement shows it has vendor relationships for exactly this purpose (Diamante Global Services, Gosima Group, NEJG Engineering, all paid directly for diesel supply as examined by SecretsReporters in subsequent reports.
Paying N6.9 million for vehicle fuelling directly to an individual staff member, when the Ministry demonstrably has functioning vendor payment channels for fuel elsewhere, is a departure from its own established practice that demands an explanation as it violates the Financial Regulations of the Federal Government of Nigeria that states advances paid to public officers must be retired promptly with documented evidence of expenditure; failure to retire, or the absence of any retirement record, constitutes a breach subject to surcharge and disciplinary action. Vendor and service-provider payments must be made directly to the vendor, not routed through an individual’s personal account.
The Treasury Single Account (TSA) Guidelines also require that payments for goods and services be made directly into the verified accounts of the contractors or vendors providing them. The N9.24 million paid to Okonji Dumebi Emmanuel “IFO ADS Prestige Ltd”, money explicitly meant for a named company, routed instead through an individual’s personal account, is a direct departure from this requirement.
Messages sent to the minister for clarifications were never responded to, despite it clearly shown that he has read it.
