Rowdy session as reps summon CBN Governor over alleged N16.3trn unremitted funds

The House of Representatives on Wednesday descended into a rowdy session following a motion seeking the appearance of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, over the Bank’s alleged non-remittance of N5.2 trillion operating surpluses and N11.09 trillion revenue totalling N16.3 trillion between 2016 and 2022.

The motion, moved by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun), accused the apex bank of failing to remit operating surpluses and other federally collected revenues due to the federal government, despite statutory obligations to do so.

Presenting the motion titled: “Non-remittance of over Five trillion naira operating surplus and eleven trillion Naira government revenue by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)”, Salam told the House that ongoing investigations by the PAC uncovered multiple infractions during its examination of the 2022 Auditor-General’s report and scrutiny of the Remita revenue collection system between March 2015 and April 2016.

According to the committee’s findings, the CBN is allegedly holding an undisputed liability of N5.2 trillion in unpaid operating surpluses from 2016 to 2022, while also failing to refund N954.3 million in collected charges, which the committee now computes at N3.28 billion including accrued interest based on the current Monetary Policy Rate.

The motion further highlighted a discrepancy of N11.09 billion between revenue figures submitted by the CBN and what the PAC computed from the same data, as well as a separate migration shortfall of N2.68 trillion said to be outstanding and payable to the Federal Government’s Asset Recovery Account.

Salam described as unacceptable at a time the nation is grappling with dwindling revenues, rising insecurity and acute infrastructure needs.

The lawmaker expressed displeasure that the CBN Governor has repeatedly ignored formal invitations and directives issued by the PAC to provide explanations and remit the funds in question.

He called for a resolution of the to summon the CBN Governor to appear before the full House on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 at 11:00 a.m., to explain the alleged non-remittances and present a concrete plan for immediate payment of all outstanding amounts into designated government accounts.

However, trouble started when a lawmaker from Kano, Hon. Ghali Mustapha Tijjani, moved for an amendment that the CBN governor should instead, appear before an ad-hoc committee of the House, a motion which did not go down with many members leading to a rowdy session.

Following his motion, Hon. Ahmed Jaha (Borno, APC) moved an amendment to Salam’s motion, urging the House to summon the CBN Governor and all relevant agencies to appear before the Public Accounts Committee.

The amendment immediately sparked vocal objections from some lawmakers who attempted to shout it down leading to a near-chaotic atmosphere.

The Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, who presided, struggled to maintain order, calling on members to maintain decorum.

He warned members against “embarrassing the institution.”

“You are shouting as if putting the question will take away a right that belongs to you.

“This is not the behaviour of an honourable member. We are before the world seeing us.”

He cautioned specific lawmakers, including Hon. Mark Esset and Hon. Kabir Maipalas, threatening disciplinary action if the disorder continued.

“If you don’t stop this behaviour… we will take you to ethics. I do not want to set an example in this House, but you are forcing me to.”

The Speaker stressed that there was nothing controversial about calling for a vote and urged members to abide by parliamentary procedure.

After restoring order, Abbas restated Jaha’s proposed amendment with Hon. Akin Alabi (Oyo) seconding.

When the question was eventually put to vote, shouts of “aye” and “nay” again rang across the chamber, forcing the Speaker to repeat the question twice and the “aye” had it.

With the motion and its amendment adopted, the House summoned the CBN Governor and officials responsible for Remita revenue administration to appear before the Public Account Committee on December 16.

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