The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yemi Cardoso, over what it described as serious breaches of financial rules and failures to remit funds as required by law.
The lawmakers said both men must appear before a joint committee of the House on Monday to explain the reported violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007 and issues raised in the 2021 audit report by the Auditor General for the Federation.
In a letter signed by Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, and Ademorin Kuye, Chairman of the Committee on Public Assets, the parliament asked Edun and Cardoso to come with full details on how the CBN handled its operating surplus, and whether it followed financial laws in remitting money to the Federation Account.
Recent reports by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) and the Auditor General’s office had accused many Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the CBN, of not remitting their operating surplus properly over the last six years.
“These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the Federal Government and constitute a hindrance to effective implementation of the budgets passed by parliament,” Salam stated.
The joint panel said the Finance Ministry and the CBN had been given enough time to reconcile their accounts. Now, the lawmakers want them to present their positions clearly so that the House can know the level of financial responsibility or failure involved.
The committees also raised concerns about abandoned public projects. They said the Auditor General’s report showed that some projects fully paid for between 2011 and 2016 in places like Dutse and Abeokuta are still not completed or in use.
The lawmakers said these cases need to be properly investigated and resolved to prevent further waste of public funds.
