… CBN withholding Fed Govt’s N5.3trn unremitted operating surplus – OAGF
By Seun Ibiyemi
Amid concerns over revenue leakages and non-remittance of operating surpluses, the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has demanded detailed records of outstanding liabilities allegedly owed to the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and other government-owned enterprises.
The demand was made on Tuesday during an investigative hearing at the National Assembly, where the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, appeared alongside senior Treasury officials.
The lawmakers also raised concerns over the alleged illegal withdrawal of N15 billion from the accounts of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), directing the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to provide detailed explanations on deductions from the statutory accounts of ministries, departments and agencies.
The hearing formed part of the committee’s oversight responsibilities aimed at ensuring compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which requires government-owned enterprises to remit a specified percentage of their operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Speaking during the session, committee member Gboyega Isiaka expressed concern over Nigeria’s low revenue performance, stressing that poor compliance with remittance obligations had continued to weaken the country’s fiscal position.
“Considering our GDP, ours is one of the lowest on the continent, at about 16 per cent. Business entities are expected to return about 80 per cent of their operating surplus, while others remit between 20 and 50 per cent,” Isiaka said.
He urged the committee to examine the actual surpluses declared by key agencies, including the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.
Responding, the Director of Revenue and Investment at the OAGF, Makinde Mogaji, disclosed that the CBN allegedly owed the Federal Government N5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus.
“Early last year, the CBN was owing the Federal Government N5.3tn as operating surplus. Despite the efforts of the Public Accounts Committee to recover the money, it has not been paid,” Mogaji said.
He added that while some agencies, including the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, had remitted substantial amounts, others were yet to fulfil their obligations.
Lawmakers also examined the OAGF’s policy of automatically deducting funds from the accounts of MDAs to recover anticipated operating surpluses before the end of each fiscal year.
Defending the practice, Ogunjimi described it as an innovative strategy that helped boost government revenue.
“That was an ingenious way of taking, in advance, what was due to government, and it helped us generate substantial revenue last year,” he said.
The Accountant-General, however, admitted that several agencies had challenged the deductions, leading to reviews and reversals in some cases.
Committee Chairman Bamidele Salam questioned the legality of the deductions, citing complaints from UBEC, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure and other agencies.
“UBEC claimed that funds approved under its November 2025 Authority to Incur Expenditure were not released by the Accountant-General. It also alleged that N16bn and another N15bn were taken from the commission’s account without refund,” Salam said.
Ogunjimi maintained that the withdrawals were temporary and intended to meet urgent government financial obligations.
READ ALSO:Reps recovers N521.8m unremitted VAT from CBN over remita transactions
“There have been occasions when government needed to meet critical financial obligations, and we temporarily utilised funds belonging to some agencies. It is essentially a loan, and we have been refunding those agencies,” he explained.
Mogaji also disclosed that the auto-deduction system introduced last year remained in operation, adding that over N300 billion temporarily utilised from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund had been fully refunded.
However, Salam rejected the explanation, insisting that agencies established by law should have uninterrupted access to their statutory allocations.
“UBEC is expected to build schools, provide infrastructure and supply instructional materials. It cannot effectively discharge those responsibilities if its statutory funds are diverted to other purposes,” he said.
At the end of the hearing, the committee directed the OAGF to submit comprehensive records of outstanding liabilities owed by the CBN, NNPC Ltd and other government-owned enterprises, as well as documents detailing deductions from MDA accounts, refunds already made and outstanding balances.
The investigation is expected to continue in the coming weeks as lawmakers seek to recover outstanding government revenues and determine whether the deductions complied with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
