By Mercy Gadia Adi
The House of Representatives on Wednesday directed the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, to appear before lawmakers on 16 December 2025, following revelations that the apex bank allegedly failed to remit more than N11 trillion of government revenues into the Federation Account.
The decision followed a motion moved by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Rep. Bamidele Salam, who said the Auditor-General’s 2022 report and an ongoing review of the Remita Revenue Collection System had exposed an undisputed liability of N5.2 trillion in unpaid operating surpluses due from 2016 to 2022.
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“The House is concerned,” Salam said, “that cumulatively, the Committee has uncovered that the Central Bank of Nigeria is indebted to the Federal Government in the sum of over N11 trillion, arising from the foregoing infractions and discrepancies.”
According to Salam, the Committee’s findings include a migration discrepancy of N2.68 trillion on the CBN’s core system funds he said remain outstanding and payable to the Federal Government’s Asset Recovery Account.
He added that the CBN collected N954.3 million in charges but refunded “N0.00,” with interest computed at the Monetary Policy Rate rising to N2.33 billion, bringing the total expected refund to N3.28 billion.
A further analysis, he said, showed that while “the CBN claimed total collections of N8.7 billion, PAC computations from the same data produced N19.8 billion a variance of N11.09 billion.”
Salam argued that the Committee was acting strictly within its constitutional mandate, noting that Sections 85(5), 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, and the House Standing Orders place oversight of public revenue squarely under the Legislature.
He criticised the CBN Governor’s alleged refusal to honour previous invitations. “Despite several formal communications, the apex bank has failed, refused or neglected to appear or remit the outstanding amounts as directed,”he said.
The debate quickly descended into a rowdy session after Hon. Mustapha Ghali proposed that the investigation be transferred to an ad-hoc committee comprising Finance, Banking Regulations and Public Accounts.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, after conferring with the Majority and Minority leaders, announced that the House would adopt the proposal.
But several lawmakers, including the Deputy Majority Whip, Hon. Gboyega Isiaka, pushed back, warning against sidelining the only constitutionally recognised committee for public audit. Others, including Hon. Sada Soli and Hon. Ahmed Jaha echoed concerns that creating an ad-hoc committee might undermine the integrity and continuity of the PAC’s work.
They praised the Salam-led committee for what they described as capacity and integrity demonstrated over the past two years, insisting the investigation remain under its purview.
After more than 30 minutes of heated exchanges, the House reached a compromise and resolved unanimously that the CBN Governor and relevant MDAs must appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, 16 December 2025, to provide explanations and present a concrete plan for immediate payment of all outstanding revenues.
The resolution comes at a time of severe fiscal strain. “At a time when the nation is confronted with acute revenue shortages, heightened insecurity and pressing developmental needs, the prompt recovery of all government funds is critical for national stability and economic sustainability,” Salam warned.