Reps blow hot

..Query Accountant General over payment of N15bn to Remita

..To probe sale of Govt aircraft to individuals

..Accuse CBN of complicity

BY TOM OKPE

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

The committee accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Commercial Banks of complicity in the sharing of the N150 billion remittance.

Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman PAC, made the allegation at the resumed investigative hearing on revenue leakages in Abuja . Remita is a payment solution that helps individuals and business make and receive payment, pay bills and manage their finances.

Salam said that the payment of N15 billion to Remita from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.

He described the payment as illegal.

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

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“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?”

According to him, 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,”” he alleged.

He said, “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.”

He said that by the time the Committee finished its reconciliation, “I am very sure that hundreds of billions of naira will be the VAT component that was not remitted to FIRS.”

According to him, each bank ought to take the money and directly remit it to FIRS.

“Now Remita is saying that those collecting should calculate the money that has been shared into shreds.How do we track this kind of money? “he asked.

The Director of Banking Services of the CBN, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi, said they deemed it fit to source for an alternative way of remitting revenue and Remita and System Spec were selected because they had been rendering similar services to banks.

According to him, Remita was engaged in 2011 and operations commenced in 2012 with system module names.

The CBN only finalised the transaction

He said that the fees charged under the TSA were in line with the structure of banking. The volume of revenue collection that passed through Remita was N86 million.

Mr. Oyewole Adewale, Chief Accountant, TSA Department, representing the Accountant General for the Federation, accused the CBN of not honouring its letters to reconcile the revenue accrued to the country through TSA.

He said the OAGF had developed a system where all revenue generated by the Ministries of Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) could now be monitored without any interference.

Mr Aderemi Atanda, the Director of Remita Payment Services Ltd., while reading the summary of the TSA collection record, said that 10, 20, and 50 percent were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta.

He said that collections are usually not static, adding that they vary.

“From 2015 to 2016, it was N4.2 million, and the fee paid was N8.5 billion; in 2016, N1.3 billion was paid.”

Meanwhile, he House of Representatives has equally vowed to recover two Bell Helicopters, Bell 206L4 BZB and Bell M2061- L4, belonging to the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT), Zaria, sold to private individuals.

Chairman, House Committee on Public Assets, Rep Ademorin Kuye, made this known at its investigative Public Hearing at the National Assembly, on Thursday

Kuye expressed concern over the sale of the National Aircraft, when the college was left with none, for training.

The Committee also questioned the process leading to the sale of the helicopters as security agencies, including Nigerian Air Force, Navy and the Police, indicated interest to purchase them.

The security agencies were, however, denied by the management of the NCAT.

The three security agencies, according to various submissions, did not only indicate interest to purchase the helicopters by writing but, visited the college and were denied the opportunity to purchase them.

Mr Shaka Imalighwe, Acting Rector, NCAT, said though he was the Deputy Rector of the college at the time the helicopters were sold, he was not part of the team/committee that facilitated the sales.

“I took over the management of the college in an acting capacity in January 2024,” he said.

The Committee said in spite of initial appeals to NCAT to provide certain documents regarding the process that led to the sale of the helicopters in May 2023, they had not been able to provide it.

“This, was in respect of approval of Federal Executive Council, (FEC) and the Ministry of Aviation as well as newspaper publications, advertising the intention to sell the helicopters.”

He also, told the Committee that the helicopters were in service and being maintained by relevant aviation bodies when they were sold.

The acting Rector of the college also confirmed to the lawmakers that at the moment, there was no single helicopter in the institution for training.

The lawmakers argued that it was wrong for NCAT to have used an unlicensed auctioneer to sell the helicopters, directing the immediate past and current Minister of Aviation to appear before it in the next investigative hearing.

Also summoned was the Ministry of Works, Finance Incorporated, (MOFI); both immediate past and present Rectors of the College, among others.