The Senate on Wednesday in Abuja accused the Central Bank of Nigeria of withholding 80 per cent remittable operational surplus meant for the Consolidated Revenue Fund over the last five years.
The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly also lamented that “Nigeria wouldn’t have been having problems with inadequate revenue to fund its annual budget if revenue-generating agencies were remitting 80 per cent of their operating surpluses into the CRF as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos) at the start of a 3 Day interactive session with revenue-generating agencies of government said, “specifically, the Central Bank of Nigeria which has a yearly budget of N2.3 trillion has not remitted any revenue from its operational surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund within the last five years.”
However, the Deputy Governor of CBN (Economic Policy), Dr Kingsley Obiora carpeted the allegation, insisting that the affected 80 per cent operational surpluses of the Apex bank have always been remitted to the CRF, yearly.
According to him, the remittance is done in line with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and not that of the CBN Act which stipulates 75 per cent remittance.
Obiora retorted, “With all due respect to the Senate and in particular, this committee, the CBN as a law-abiding government agency, had not at any time, defaulted in the remittance of its operational surpluses.
“We do this on a yearly basis as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act despite the fact that the CBN Act requires us to remit 75 per cent only,” he said.
Reacting to the CBN’s claims, the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Solomon Adeola (APC Lagos West) directed the CBN to produce documentary evidence of its remittances within the last five years unfailingly Friday this week.
He also told Apex Bank to produce its Audited Account in the last five years as well as its position paper on monetary policy point of view on the 2022 – 2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper being considered by the committee.
“He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Since you have declared before the whole world that CBN has been remitting 80 per cent operational surpluses into CRF, it is necessary that we see the documentary evidence, as that would lay the controversy to rest,” Adeola said.
