A rowdy session broke out on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday as lawmakers debated a motion alleging the non-remittance of more than ₦5.2 trillion in operating surpluses and ₦11 trillion in revenue discrepancies linked to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between 2016 and 2022.
The motion, moved by the Chairman of the Public Account
Commitee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, relied on findings from the Public Accounts
Committee (PAC), which is currently investigating government revenues collected
through the Remita platform as captured in the 2022 Auditor-General’s Report.
According to PAC’s review, the CBN has an undisputed
liability of ₦5.2 trillion in unremitted operating surpluses due to the Federal
Government for the years 2016–2022. Further discrepancies uncovered include:
₦954,302,576.67 in charges collected by the CBN on Remita transactions but
allegedly not refunded; A PAC-computed variation of ₦11,098,385,528.19 between
the CBN’s reported collections and the committee’s own calculation from the
same dataset;₦3.28 billion total amount due for refund when interest at the
Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) of 27.25% is applied; A total variance of ₦19.8
billion in figures submitted by the apex bank.
Trouble began when a member from Kano, Rep Ghali Mustapha
Tijanni moved for an amendment for an adhoc committee to handle the
investigation.
However, the amendment did not go down well with members who
said the investigation should be handled by the Public Account Committee of the
House.
The development let to argument and rowdy session with
lawmakers in a shouting match while the Speaker trying to restore order.
Hon. Ahmed Jaha (Chibok/Damboa/Gwoza) 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, in a strongly worded reprimand to the lawmakers for their
conduct.
He warned members against “embarrassing the institution,”
saying:
“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. Hon. Akin Alabi (Oyo) seconded the motion.
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 Commitee.
The Commitee is to investigate alleged non-remittance of
federal revenue and discrepancies from 2015 to 2022;
Ensure compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the
CBN Act, and other financial regulations.
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