The house of representatives has summoned Wale Edun,
minister of finance, and Yemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), over alleged violations of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and lapses
flagged in the 2021 audit report of the auditor-general of the federation.
The officials were summoned in a letter on Friday, jointly
signed by Bamidele Salam, chairman of the house committee on public accounts,
and Ademorin Kuye, chairman of the committee on public assets.
Edun and Cardoso were asked to appear before a joint
committee session on June 16 to clarify issues relating to the remittance of
operating surpluses into the federation account.
The lawmakers said reports submitted by the fiscal
responsibility commission (FRC) and the office of the auditor-general suggest
that several ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) — including the CBN —
failed to remit or under-remitted operating surpluses over the past six years
in breach of financial regulations.
“These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of
the federal government and constitute a hindrance to the effective
implementation of the budgets passed by parliament,” Salam said.
The joint committee said both the ministry and the apex bank
have been given ample time to reconcile their accounts and present their
positions before the final hearing is scheduled.
The lawmakers are also probing revelations in the
auditor-general’s report indicating that several public assets fully paid for
between 2011 and 2016 remain uncompleted or unused.
The committee said “some of these projects in Dutse,
Abeokuta, and other locations have not been delivered more than a decade after
they were awarded”.
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