The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee is asking about the N15bn payment given to Remita by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation for two years.
This is while the committee is blaming the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks for being involved in sharing the N15bn remittance.
Bamidele Salam, the committee’s Chairman, made the accusation during the investigative hearing on revenue leakages in Abuja on Thursday.
Remita is a payment solution that assists individuals and businesses in making and receiving payments, paying bills, and managing their finances.
Salam said that the Remita payment from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.
“The money is an illegal payment. There was no budget provision. So, where did they source the money from?” the chairman questioned.
“If someone pays N150,000 using Remita, they will also pay 7.5% Value-Added Tax on top of it.
“Normally, that entire VAT sum should go to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, but in this transaction, they will now add that VAT to the N150,000.
“They will add it up, collect the money, and take it to the CBN,” he claimed.
He said, “System Spec and Remitta, both collecting revenue for the Federal Government, will share 50%, while the banks and the CBN will also have their share.”
He said that when the committee finished its reconciliation, “I am very sure that hundreds of billions of naira will be the VAT component that was not remitted to FIRS.”
Salam stated that each bank should take the money and directly remit it to FIRS.
“Now, Remita is saying that each of those collecting the money will come and calculate the money that has been shared into shreds. Now, how do we track this kind of money? “he asked.
The Director, Banking Services, CBN, Mr.Ahmed Abdullahi, said it was necessary to find an alternative way of remitting revenue, adding that Remita and System Spec were chosen because they had been providing similar services to banks.
The Chief Accountant, Treasury Single Account Department, Oyewole Adewale, representing the Accountant-General of the Federation, accused the CBN of not honoring its letters to reconcile the revenue earned by the Treasury Single Account.
He noted that the OAGF had set up a system where all revenue generated by the Ministries of Departments and Agencies of Government could now be monitored with minimal interference.
The Director, Remita Payment Services Ltd, Aderemi Atanda, while summarizing the TSA collection record, maintained that 10, 20, and 50% were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta respectively.
He noted that collections often vary, saying, “In 2015 to 2016, it was N4.2 million, and the fee paid was N8.5 billion. In 2016, N1.3 billion was paid.”
