The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has ordered financial technology firm Remita to refund N182.77 billion to the federal government. The amount is said to have been withheld from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015.
The directive was issued on Wednesday during a committee session in Abuja, following the presentation of a forensic audit report by Seyi Katola & Company, which revealed major discrepancies in revenue remittances.
Remita, a platform owned by SystemSpecs, is used by federal agencies to remit funds into the TSA. The House launched an investigation in November 2023 into suspected revenue leakages through the platform.
Committee Chairman, Bamidele Salam, said the decision was based on findings from the auditors and documents submitted by Remita and other stakeholders.
Adewale Oyebamiji, the lead auditor, detailed the liabilities:
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N3.42 billion in under-refunded transaction processing fees (including interest)
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N101.85 million in unpaid acquirer fees (including interest)
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N179.25 billion in unremitted collections (including interest)
The audit used the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary policy rate of 27.25% to calculate interest on the overdue sums.
The committee recommended that SystemSpecs Ltd refund the entire N182.77 billion to the federal government’s asset recovery account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), account number: 0020054161191.
Chairman Salam noted that some commercial banks have already complied with similar refund directives and urged other TSA service providers to do the same promptly. He also commended the auditors for their detailed and patriotic work.