Vanguard published a report on Saturday, June 14, 2025, stating that the Joint Committees on Public Accounts and Public Assets of the House of Representatives have issued a summons to Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance, and Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), requesting that they appear before them on Monday, June 16, 2025.
The decision was made as a result of substantial concerns over alleged violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, as well as inconsistencies that were highlighted in the audit report that was released by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation in 2021.
In a formal letter that was co-signed by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, and the Chairman of the Public Assets Committee, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, the lawmakers demanded that both officials provide detailed explanations regarding the remittance of operating surpluses by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Federation Account.
The request is based on long-standing concerns that have been brought up by both the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Auditor General. Both of these organisations have repeatedly brought attention to a number of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the Central Bank, for either failing to remit or under-remitting their operating surpluses over the course of the past six years.
“These violations have had a negative impact on the liquidity of the federal government and constitute a hindrance to the effective implementation of the budgets that were passed by parliament,” stated the Honourable Salam.
The committees took notice of the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance have been provided with adequate time to reconcile their respective financial records and align their reports with the requirements of the statutes.
The legislators, however, claimed that the scheduled appearance would serve as a last hearing to address all of the issues that have not yet been settled because of the ongoing disparities which have been occurring.
The Committees are looking into accusations made in the statutory report of the Auditor General, which state that some government-funded capital projects, although being completely paid for, are still unfinished and have been abandoned for years. This is in addition to the problem of surplus remittances.
SOURCE: dayo332/Opera