Reps query Accountant-General Office’s payment of N15bn to Remita

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has queried the payment of N15 billion to Remita, a payment platform in the Office of the Accountant General for the Federation (OAGF).

The chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, who spoke at the resumed investigative hearing on revenue leakages on Thursday in Abuja, accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Commercial Banks of complicity in the sharing of N150 billion remittances.

He stressed that the payment of N15 billion to Remita from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable.

The chairman said: “The money is an illegal payment; there was no budget provision, so where did they source the money from?” the chairman queried.

“The CBN also shared in the money. The money is an illegal payment; there was no budget provision, so where did they source the money from?”

“For instance, if someone pays N150 as a remitter, you will now pay 7.5 percent Value-Added Tax (VAT) in addition to it.

“Ordinarily, that whole sum of VAT ought to go to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), but what they are doing in this transaction is that they will now add that VAT to the N150.

“They will add it up, gather the money together, and take it to the CBN.

“System Spec and Remitta, both collecting revenue for the federal government, will share 50 percent, while the banks and the CBN will also have their share.”

The Director of Remita Payment Services Limited, Mr. Aderemi Atanda, who read the summary of the TSA collection record, said that between 10 and 50 percent were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta.

He, however, said collections vary from time to time.

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