An analysis of federal payment records has revealed that Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) spent over ₦22.6bn on estacode, air tickets and related travel expenses between July 2023 and March 2026, with multiple cases of duplicate transactions.

Estacode refers to a form of travel allowance paid to a public officer to cover travel expenses outside the country

The dataset Daily Trust sourced from Govspend, a civic accountability platform, shows total estacode spending of ₦22,674,234,602.21 within the period, with a sharp spike recorded in 2024 alone, which accounted for ₦15.67bn, more than two-thirds of the total expenditure.

Spending stood at ₦3.26Bn in 2023, dropped to ₦3.41bn in 2025, and ₦324.88m as of early 2026. 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 ₦5.15bn, followed by the Federal Ministry of Sports Development headquarters with ₦3.56bn.

The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) recorded ₦1.80bn, while the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters accounted for ₦1.04bn. The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, also featured prominently with ₦802.69m.

Other MDAs captured in the dataset include the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, National Commission for Persons with Disability, Police Formations and Commands, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), and several agencies involved in policy, administration and international engagements, collectively forming the top ten spenders on travel-related expenses over the period reviewed.

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 ₦10m payment to a beneficiary three separate times with identical details. Similarly, the OSGF processed duplicate payments of ₦6.6m for estacode and air tickets to the same beneficiary on the same day.

At NIPSS, Kuru, the analysis showed repeated transfers of about ₦7.6m 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 such as “estacode and air ticket” or “official assignment.”

In several cases, multiple disbursements ranging from ₦5m to over ₦20m were processed within a 24-hour window for similar purposes.

For example, on July 27, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning recorded multiple payments for foreign trips, including ₦5.22 million for travel to Malaga, Spain, ₦6.88m for New York, and additional entries ranging between ₦4.95m and ₦8.1m for similar purposes.

Likewise, on August 8, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs processed several payments on the same day, including ₦22.9m, ₦9.84m, ₦7.68m and ₦6.2m, all tied to estacode and travel logistics.

The National Commission for Persons with Disability also recorded multiple payments on July 25, 2023, including ₦9.1m and ₦3.5m for estacode-related assignments. (Daily Trust)

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