Rowdy Session As Reps Summon Central Bank Governor Over Alleged N15trn Debt

There was a rowdy session in the House of Representatives yesterday when the lawmakers disagreed on whether the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, should appear before the Public Accounts Committee, Ad-hoc Committee or Committee of the Whole over a N15 trillion indebtedness to the federal government.

This was sequel to a motion titled: “Non-Remittance of over N5 trillion Operating Surplus and N11 trillion Government Revenue by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), moved by Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun).

Salam, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, prayed the House to invite the CBN governor to appear before it on Tuesday next week at 11:00 a.m. to explain the non-remittance of the identified government revenues and present a concrete plan for immediate payment of all outstanding amounts into the designated federal government accounts.

Trouble started when Hon.

Ghali Mustapha Tijjani from Kano State moved that the motion be amended for an ad-hoc committee to be constituted to handle the assignment and Hon. Mark Esset seconded it from Akwa Ibom State.

However, Hon. Ahmed Jaha(APC, Borno) kicked against the proposal, insisting that the House compel the CBN governor to appear before the Public Accounts Committee which had been investigating the matter.

“The sacrosanctity of this institution cannot at whatever level of influence be compromised because of the powerful nature of a head of an agency. The Committee on Public Accounts, we are all aware, is being chaired by a qualified, competent, and committed member, Honourable Bamidele Salam. He has the capacity, likewise his members of the committee. I know them.

I am not a member of Public Accounts Committee.

“Mr Speaker, we are trying to strengthen him, not to undermine his committee. Mr. Speaker, we have to tell each other the truth. We should not undermine the sanctity of our committees.

“What I am trying to say is, in as much as the committee has written severally to the agency and they have not been honouring, this time around is a resolution of the House for them to appear before the committee.

“So, what I am trying to say in a nutshell is, let there be a resolution on the floor of this House, forcing and compelling the agency to appear before the committee on public accounts whether they like it or not,” Jaha submitted.

Hon. Sada Soli(APC, Katsina) while supporting the motion earlier, expressed concern over the stunning revelations by the Public Accounts panel which is the only constitutionally recognised committee.

Soli said the House should invoke its relevant rules and summon the CBN governor stressing that his attitude towards the Public Accounts Committee is unacceptable.

“This is the only committee that is mentioned in the Constitution. Mr. Speaker, this committee is being chaired by an opposition, so I believe they will do the right thing, and I believe they have done the right thing.

“Mr. Speaker, the revelations in this motion are so damning, and they are contained with a lot of concern for the managers of the economy of this country. They must pay attention to this kind of reports.

“Mr. Speaker, I don’t think this House should invite the Governor of the CBN. This House should invoke Order 19, Rule 1, and Rule 2 of our order book. We don’t have to waste time to invite this public officer. We summon him, invoke our rules, and summon him.

“Why should the House invite him? After all, the committee that has been charged with the responsibility to do that mission not once, not twice, they have invited this public officer, an appointee of the President, disregarded the invitation of a committee, one committee that was mentioned in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, disregarded that, disrespected that committee, and the institution that appointed that committee.

“Mr. Speaker, that behaviour is unacceptable to this Parliament. It’s unacceptable to Nigeria, and I believe and I hope Mr. President and the managers of this economy are watching because the revelations in this motion are damning, and we should note that this motion is coming from an opposition.

“So I don’t think it is something that we should play with. It’s a wake-up call to those that manage this economy so that at least we will try to stop this rascality,”he added.

Also, Hon. Babajimi Benson moved that the ad-hoc committee proposed be populated by three committees; Finance, Banking Regulation and Public Accounts.

This too was equally rejected and accepted by lawmakers in their quoruses, heightening tension in the chamber with Speaker Abbas Tajudeen who presided over the sitting cautioning members almost to no avail.

However when normalcy returned,

Hon. Tijjani withdrew his amendment while Hon. Jaha proposed that the motion be amended to read:”the House do resolve to summon the CBN Governor and relevant agencies involved to appear before the Public Accounts Committee unfailing” and it was overwhelmingly adopted.

While moving the motion, Hon. Bamidele informed lawmakers of findings of his committee’s investigation into the Auditor General’s Report of 2022 financial year and the administration of the Remita Revenue Collection System by CBN from March 1, 2015 to April 30, 2016.

He said the Committee uncovered the following: “The CBN undisputed liability of ₦5.2 Trillion, in unpaid operating surpluses due to the FGN for the years ended 2016 to 2022, which has remained unremitted to date.

“Refunds of Collected Charges by the Central Bank of Nigeria

(a) Amount Collected by the Central Bank of Nigeria: ₦954,302,576.67

(b) Amount Refunded by the Central Bank of Nigeria: ₦0.00 (c) Difference/Variation ₦954,302,576.67 (d) Computed Interest at Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 27.25%: ₦2,329,027,728.92. (e) Total Amount Due for Refund: ₦3,283,330,305.05…”

The lawmaker also noted the discovery of a migration discrepancy amounting to ₦2,686,325,119,825.10 being

outstanding and payable to the Federal Government’s Assets Recovery Account.

He expressed concern that cumulatively, the Committee has uncovered that the Central Bank of Nigeria is indebted

to the Federal Government of Nigeria in the sum of over ₦11 trillion, arising from the foregoing

infractions and discrepancies.

“Despite several formal communications and invitations extended to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria by the Public Accounts Committee to appear, provide explanations, and remit the outstanding amounts into designated Government accounts, the Central Bank of Nigeria has failed, refused, or neglected to honour the invitations or effect the required remittances as directed by the committee,”he added.