Fed Govt Introduces Stricter Financial Rules for Agencies and Officers
By Patience Ikpeme
The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), Mr. Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has issued two circulars to all top government officials and agencies across the nation.
These directives introduce new financial regulations concerning daily operational spending through imprest warrants and revised limits for various government advances, aiming to enhance fiscal control and efficiency in public service.
The first circular outlines the “Approval and Implementation of Year 2025 Revised Annual General Imprest Warrant,” which has received the Finance Minister’s signature in line with financial regulations.
This directive permits Accounting Officers across all three arms of government, including Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Offices, and Agencies, to approve funds for eligible imprest holders.
The new spending caps for reimbursable imprest are now N700,000.00 for Ministers, N500,000.00 for Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General, N300,000.00 for Directors and Heads of Department, and N100,000.00 for Heads of Formations in each State and other authorized imprest holders.
Reimbursement of these standing imprests will typically occur once a quarter, with a maximum of twice a quarter when circumstances necessitate.
The circular also mandates that all local procurements of stores and services costing above N1,000,000.00 must now be conducted through awarded contracts, unless specific provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, apply.
Furthermore, all imprest holders must strictly follow Financial Regulations Nos. 1005 to 1012 in managing their accounts. Self-Accounting Ministries, Extra-Ministerial Offices, Agencies, and all arms of Government are now required to submit returns to the Accountant-General of the Federation within thirty days from the circular’s date.
These returns must detail the vouchers used for 2024 imprest retirements and provide a list of entitled imprest holders and their locations for 2025. In line with e-payment policies, imprest holders are directed to open Operational Bank Accounts for imprest management, with monthly detailed reports of payments and retirements to be submitted to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).
The Treasury Inspectorate Department of the OAGF will conduct regular inspections, and any violation of these regulations in operating imprest accounts will result in the withdrawal of the affected Accounting Officer’s right to issue any imprest, alongside other applicable sanctions. All concerned officers are urged to ensure strict adherence to these new rules.
The second circular, titled “Implementation of Revised Limits of Advances Thresholds In Line With Current Economic Realities,” conveys the Finance Minister’s approval for revised limits on advances.
This directive from the OAGF informs and guides all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) of government on the new applicable advance limits. The revision aims to improve fiscal control, ensure accountability, offer administrative flexibility, and enhance operational efficiency within MDAs.
It also seeks to align disbursed amounts with current economic realities, reduce administrative delays in issuing and using advances, ensure that disbursed amounts accurately reflect the true cost of government operations, and promote timely service delivery. Under the revised thresholds, personal advances are now set at nil.
For non-personal administrative advances, the normal or regular cash advance limit is N1,000,000, while special projects and programmes advances are capped at N10,000,000. A notable change for special projects and programmes advances, which revises a 2020 circular, is that the approved officer can now solely take and retire such an advance, removing the need for MDAs to open special accounts with OAGF or the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or submit signatories for this purpose. Eligible officers for these special advances must be at salary grade level 10 (SGL.10) or above.
Strict compliance and control measures are also outlined, requiring Accounting Officers and Directors of Finance and Accounts to ensure that advances follow existing regulations and are promptly and properly retired within the year they were granted.
Officers are prohibited from taking or managing multiple advances at the same time. Additionally, advances are not to be granted from Capital Votes, Special Funds, or similar funds; they must be for recurrent expenditure purposes only.
All advances, including those for special projects and programmes, must be retired within the same year their purpose is fulfilled or at the end of the approved project or programme. Failure to comply will lead to sanctions in accordance with existing regulations.
As part of accountability efforts, MDAs are also required to prepare and present a special report of all unretired advances annually, including an age analysis, as an attachment to their Annual Trial Balance and Notes to the Financial Statements.
This circular comes into effect on August 1, 2025, and overrides all previous communications on advances thresholds that do not align with this revision or existing regulations.
