By Anifowoshe Oladipupo
The Joint Committees on Public Accounts and Public Assets of the House of Representatives have summoned the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, to appear before them on Monday, June 16, 2025.
The top government officials are to respond to allegations of non-compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, as well as internal control weaknesses flagged in the 2021 audit reports by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.
In a letter jointly signed by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, and his Public Assets counterpart, Ademorin Kuye, the committees requested that Edun and Cardoso provide explanations on the remittance of operating surpluses to the Federation Account, in line with relevant laws and financial regulations.
Recall that both the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Auditor General had, in separate reports, accused several Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including the CBN of failing to remit or under-remitting their operating surpluses over the last six years, contrary to extant fiscal provisions.
“These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the federal government and pose a significant hindrance to the effective implementation of national budgets passed by parliament,” Salam said.
The committees noted that the Finance Ministry and the apex bank have been given ample time to reconcile their records and clarify their financial positions, hence the need for a final hearing to resolve the discrepancies.
Additionally, the committees are investigating allegations in the Auditor General’s statutory report regarding numerous public assets that remain uncompleted despite full payment years ago.
“Some of these projects, located in Dutse, Abeokuta, and other parts of the country, were awarded between 2011 and 2016 but have yet to be completed and put to use, according to the audit reports,” the joint statement added.
