The House of Representatives has directed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso to appear before its Public Accounts Committee and explain why more than ₦16 trillion in government revenue was not remitted into federal accounts.

The order followed revelations from an ongoing investigation into the CBN’s handling of revenue collected through the Remita system.

The chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, said the bank failed to remit over ₦5 trillion in operating surpluses and ₦11 trillion in government revenue, despite clear obligations under the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the CBN Act, the Finance Act, and the Constitution.

The committee’s findings also showed an undisputed ₦5.2 trillion in unpaid operating surpluses from 2016 to 2022, a ₦954 million in collected charges that were never refunded, plus interest, bringing the total refund expected to more than ₦3.2 billion. A large gap between what the CBN claimed to have collected (₦8.7 billion) and what the committee calculated (₦19.8 billion). A migration discrepancy of over ₦2.6 trillion, linked to the Federal Government’s Assets Recovery Account.

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Altogether, the committee said the CBN owes more than ₦11 trillion to the Federal Government.

Lawmakers expressed anger that the CBN governor had ignored earlier invitations.

Some members wanted him to address the full House, others pushed for an ad-hoc committee, while some insisted the Public Accounts Committee should remain in charge.

The debate led to a rowdy session, prompting Speaker Abbas to caution members for disorderly conduct.

In the end, the House voted to keep the investigation with the Public Accounts Committee and insisted that the CBN governor must appear before it without fail to present explanations and a clear plan to repay the outstanding funds.

Source: Thenation