NEWS
Employee Corruption, Fraud Threaten Nigerian MSMEs Survival – CPPE
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) says employee corruption and occupational fraud have emerged as a major but often overlooked threats to the stability and survival of Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
The Founder of CPPE, Muda Yusuf, made this known in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos.
Yusuf noted that employee corruption undermined profits, weakened business sustainability and constrained the capacity of MSMEs to generate jobs and support national economic growth.
He estimated that employee corruption and occupational fraud could be draining between N5 trillion and N10 trillion annually from MSMEs, posing a significant threat to profitability, job creation and inclusive economic growth.
Yusuf described MSMEs as central to Nigeria’s economic resilience, accounting for the majority of businesses, sustaining millions of livelihoods and contributing significantly to non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said their stability and growth were indispensable to inclusive economic development, employment generation and poverty reduction.
According to him, beyond the visible pressures of inflation, weak purchasing power, high operating costs, infrastructure deficits and constrained access to finance, a less visible but deeply corrosive threat persists within the MSME ecosystem.
“These practices manifest in multiple forms, including theft of cash and inventory, diversion of sales proceeds, payroll manipulation, procurement kickbacks and customer diversion,” he said.
Other forms, he added, include collusion with suppliers or clients, abuse of expense reimbursements and falsification of financial records.
“Although often treated as internal management issues, their aggregate economic consequences are profound,” Yusuf said.
He noted that global occupational fraud studies, particularly long-running international workplace fraud surveys, consistently estimate that organisations lose between five and 10 per cent of annual revenue to employee-related fraud.
According to him, evidence also shows that small businesses suffer disproportionately higher losses due to weaker internal control systems, heavy dependence on cash transactions and limited audit capacity.
He said applying conservative assumptions to Nigeria’s MSME economy — which contributes roughly 50 per cent to national output — suggests annual losses could range between N5 trillion and N10 trillion.
Yusuf noted that most Nigerian MSMEs operated on thin margins, often below 15 per cent of turnover.
“Fraud losses of five to 10 per cent of revenue can eliminate profits entirely, deplete working capital and accelerate business closure.
“Occupational fraud is, therefore, not merely a governance issue but a national welfare concern,” he said.
He identified the most vulnerable MSME segments as retail and wholesale trade, hospitality, food services, entertainment, agribusiness and produce trading, transport and logistics services, small-scale manufacturing and processing, as well as personal services and informal enterprises.
Yusuf said fraud thrives in many Nigerian MSMEs due to structural vulnerabilities, weak internal governance, poor bookkeeping, informal hiring practices and slow legal processes.
He advised business owners to adopt simple governance improvements to significantly reduce losses, even within small enterprises.
According to him, business owners should prioritise the separation of cash handling, record-keeping and approval functions; conduct routine reconciliation of sales, cash and inventory; and undertake periodic independent reviews of accounts.
He also emphasised the need to strengthen hiring processes and adopt digital payment channels and basic accounting software to enhance transaction traceability and make diversion and concealment more difficult.
“Reducing occupational fraud in MSMEs requires coordinated public-sector support, including a national MSME internal control framework linked to credit and government programmes.
“We must also accelerate digital financial inclusion for small businesses, strengthen legal enforcement and asset recovery mechanisms, and expand governance education,” he said.
Nasarawa State University, Keffi and Prince Interior Vocational Institute have taken a significant step toward strengthening entrepreneurship and practical skills development among its students aimed at training professional furniture artisans.
The collaboration, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), is expected to produce over 500 furniture artisans within two years.
In her remarks during the signing of the MoU, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof.
Sa’adatu Liman said that the collaboration was one of the criteria for TETFUND guidelines in entrepreneurial development output.Liman commended the company for finding the institution a worthy and reliable partner for the entrepreneurial and vocational project.
According to her, the partnership will be beneficial to the entire university community.
Earlier, the Director of the university Entrepreneurship Development Centre (EDC), Prof. Rashidah Olanrewaju, said the university students will benefit from about 50 different skills in the EDC.
She appreciated the company for the partnership and wished the partners a successful and fruitful collaboration.
The Chief Executive Officer, Prince Interior Vocational Institute, Emeka Owgueke explained that the programme targets the establishment of a medium-scale furniture workshop on campus.
He said that the workshop will be equipped with the basic machines to sustain production and reduce the university’s overhead costs on furniture procurement.
According to Owgueke, the partnership represents a shared vision to create opportunities for young Nigerians to acquire marketable skills and build sustainable businesses within the furniture and interior design industry.
He explained that participants in the programme will be exposed to the entire furniture production value chain, including raw material sourcing, product manufacturing, finishing, branding, marketing, and distribution.
He said under the agreement, students of the university will receive hands-on training in furniture making, interior product design, and business development.
” Under the agreement, university students will be enrolled at Prince Interior Vocational Institute to acquire hands-on, certified training in furniture making, interior product design, and business development.
He commended the leadership of the University for recognising the importance of vocational education and enterprise development in addressing youth unemployment and building a resilient local economy.
“We are deeply grateful to Prof. Sa’adatu Liman and the leadership of the Nasarawa State University for recognising our uniqueness and extending this incredible opportunity to us.
” This partnership is more than an academic arrangement — it is a shared commitment to opening doors for more young Nigerians to boldly step into their career journey, whether from scratch, brushing up existing skills, or upgrading to the next level in the interior and design space.”
Students gain profitability-focused mentorship covering production, pricing, branding, and distribution of furniture goods.
Pope Leo calls for a ceasefire and denounces “horrific violence” in the Middle East
Pope Leo XIV has called for a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict as Israel and Iran continue to trade blows and the death toll across the region mounts.
“On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict: cease fire,” Leo said today after the Sunday Angelus prayer in Vatican City.
The first American pontiff said people in the region have been “suffering the horrific violence of war” for the past two weeks since the conflict broke out.
“Thousands of innocent people have been killed and many more forced to flee their homes. I once again offer my prayers to all those who have lost loved ones in the attacks that have struck schools, hospitals and residential areas,” he said.
Leo added that “violence can never lead to the justice, stability and peace that the people are waiting for.”
FAAC Shares N1.894trn Feb Revenue to FG, States, LGCs
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
A total sum of N1.894 trillion, being February 2026 Federation Account Revenue, has been shared to the Federal Government, States and the Local Government Councils.
The revenue was shared at the March 2026 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja, according to a statement by Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations at the weekend.
The N1.894 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N1.274 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N619.119 billion.
A communiqué issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that total gross revenue of N2.230 trillion was available in the month of February 2026. Total deduction for cost of collection was N77.302 billion while total transfers, refunds and savings was N259.078 billion.
According to the communiqué, gross statutory revenue of N1.561 trillion was received for the month of February 2026. This was lower than the sum of N1.957 trillion received in the preceding month by N395.138 billion.
Gross revenue of N668.450 billion was available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in February 2026. This was lower than the N1.083 trillion available in the month of January 2026 by N414.710 billion.
The communiqué stated that from the N1.894 trillion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N675.088 billion and the State Governments received a total sum of N651,525 billion.
The Local government Council received N456.467 billion, while the sum of N110.949 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting State as derivation revenue.
On the N1.274 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N613.174 billion and the State Governments received N311,010 billion.
The Local Government Councils received N239.776 billion and the sum of N110.949 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.
From the N619.119 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N61.912 billion, the State Governments received N340.515 billion and the Local Government Councils received N216.692 billion.
In February 2026, Oil and Gas Royalty and Excise Duty increased significantly while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), Companies Income Tax (CIT), CGT and SDT and Value Added Tax (VAT) decreased substantially.
Import Duty and CET increased marginally
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