The House of Representatives has summoned Wale Edun, Minister of Finance, and Yemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), over alleged ‘unremitted’ operating surpluses flagged in the 2021 audit report issued by the Auditor-General of the Federation.
The summons was communicated in a letter jointly signed on Friday by Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, and Ademorin Kuye, Chairman of the Committee on Public Assets.
Edun and Cardoso were directed to appear before a joint committee session on June 16 to address concerns regarding the remittance of operating surpluses into the federation account.
According to the lawmakers, reports presented by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and the Office of the Auditor-General indicate that numerous ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs)—including the CBN—either failed to remit or under-remitted operating surpluses over the last six years, in contravention of financial regulations.
“These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the federal government and constitute a hindrance to the effective implementation of the budgets passed by parliament,” Salam said.
The joint committee noted that both the Finance Ministry and the CBN have had sufficient time to reconcile their records and prepare their submissions before the upcoming final hearing.
Additionally, the lawmakers are investigating findings in the Auditor-General’s report which reveal that multiple public assets, fully paid for between 2011 and 2016, remain either incomplete or unused.
The committee stated that “some of these projects in Dutse, Abeokuta, and other locations have not been delivered more than a decade after they were awarded.”