CBN Owes FG N5.3tn in Unremitted Revenue, OAGF Tells Reps

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has told the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) owes the Federal Government N5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus.

The disclosure was made on Tuesday during the committee’s session on audit queries raised by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, where the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Shamsedeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, appeared alongside senior officials of the OAGF.

Director of Revenue and Investment at the OAGF, Makinde Mogaji, told lawmakers that despite efforts to recover the funds, the CBN had yet to comply with directives to remit the money.

According to him, the outstanding amount represented operating surplus due to the Federal Government.

“Early last year, they were owing the Federal Government N5.3 trillion from their operating surplus. Despite all the efforts of the Public Accounts Committee to recover the money, they refused to pay. The committee directed that 70 per cent of the amount should be paid, but the CBN has not complied,” Mogaji said.

He contrasted the situation with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which he said had remitted N473 billion to the government.

Following the revelation, the committee directed the Accountant General to submit detailed records of outstanding operating surplus and other unremitted revenues owed by the CBN, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other government agencies.

Lawmakers also sought explanations over allegations that the OAGF withdrew N15 billion from the account of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), alongside deductions from the accounts of other government agencies.

Responding, Ogunjimi defended the government’s automatic revenue deduction mechanism, describing it as a strategy introduced to collect operating surplus in advance.

He said the initiative significantly boosted government revenue but later faced resistance from some agencies, which secured presidential approvals for reversals or reductions of the deductions.

According to him, some agencies also challenged the deductions, making it difficult to sustain the level of revenue generated under the policy.

The AGF added that the NNPCL was among agencies that failed to cooperate with the process, noting that unresolved disagreements over remittances were still being reviewed by a post-audit committee.

Mogaji also defended the policy, saying the automatic deduction system was designed to recover estimated operating surplus ahead of the end of the financial year, with adjustments made after agencies computed their actual surplus.

Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, however, criticised the deductions, saying several agencies had complained that funds meant for their statutory responsibilities were being withdrawn without adequate justification.

He cited UBEC, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) among agencies that had raised concerns.

According to Salam, UBEC alleged that about N31 billion was removed from its accounts despite having approval to incur expenditure, while NASENI also reported deductions running into about N70 billion.

He warned that withholding funds meant for education and infrastructure could undermine efforts to tackle the country’s growing number of out-of-school children and other developmental challenges.

In his response, Ogunjimi said the withdrawals were temporary and carried out with approval from the Minister of Finance to meet urgent government obligations.

He explained that the OAGF only accessed funds that had remained unused in agencies’ accounts for extended periods and maintained that such withdrawals were treated as loans to be refunded when required.

The Accountant General cited the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as an example, stating that more than N300 billion previously taken from the agency had been fully refunded.

During the session, committee member Gboyega Nasir Isiaka also expressed concern over the low level of revenue remittances by government-owned enterprises.

He urged the OAGF to provide comprehensive figures on outstanding remittances and assess whether agencies such as the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were declaring appropriate operating surpluses relative to the assets under their control.

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