The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Public Accounts to investigate revenue leakages, non-compliance with standard operating procedures, and other irregularities associated with the Remita remote payment platform.
The resolution to investigate Remita was passed on Wednesday following the adoption of a motion titled “Call to Investigate Revenue Leakages and Non-Remittance of Revenues Generated through the Remita Platform.”
The motion was sponsored by Rep. Jeremiah Umaru (APC, Nasarawa) and Rep. Jafaru Gambo (APC, Bauchi).
Umaru, leading the debate on the motion, said that Nigeria’s primary challenge is not expenditure but revenue generation.
“Remita is a software and financial service platform owned by System-Specs, which is a private company in charge of managing government revenues. It has served as a gateway for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) of the federal government since 2012, though it was fully adopted in 2015 and used in the collection of government revenues over the years,” Umar stated.
He added that over N8.7 trillion had been processed through the Remita platform before its deployment, stating that prior to the TSA policy, the Nigerian government operated over 15,000 bank accounts across various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
According to Umar, this proliferation of accounts has shifted from deposit money banks to the Central Bank of Nigeria, allowing MDAs to create multiple sub-accounts, undermining the TSA policy’s objectives.
The lawmaker also noted the TSA system’s contributions to promoting a cashless economy, enhancing transparency, and facilitating effective tracking of cash assets with attendant accountability.
However, he cautioned that the system has not fully addressed revenue leakages and abuses arising from the proliferation of CBN sub-accounts.
Umar also noted that 1% of the funds collected is charged as a commission for using the Remita platform, shared among SystemSpecs (owner), Deposit Money Banks (processor), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (licence issuer) in the ratio of 50:40:10, respectively, deeming it alarming and unacceptable.
He also expressed concerns that the continued revenue leakages, coupled with non-compliance with SOPs and SLAs, would hinder the government’s ability to meet the rising demand for good governance and infrastructural development from citizens.
“Disturbed that if this scenario continues unabated, the government will continue to experience a revenue shortfall and this will prevent the government from meeting the rising demand for good governance and infrastructural development from citizens; concerned that a larger percentage of deposit money banks has formed the habit of delay in on-ward remittance or sweeping of revenues collected to the Central Bank of Nigeria,” Umar added.
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