By Ubong Ukpong, Abuja

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives yesterday queried the payment of N15 billion to Remita, a payment platform from the Office of the Accountant General for the Federation (OAGF).

The committee accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Commercial Banks of complicity in the sharing of the N150 billion remittance.

Rep.

Salam said that the payment of N15 billion to Remita from the OAGF from 2016 to 2018 was questionable, adding that the OAGF paid the money without agreement or contract.

He described the payment as illegal. “The money is an illegal payment. There was no budget provision, so where did they source the money from?” the chairman queried.

He said, “The CBN also shared in the money. The money is an illegal payment. There was no budget provision so where did they source the money from?

 “Ordinarily, that whole sum of VAT ought to go to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) but what they are doing in this transaction is that they will now add that VAT to the N150.

“They will add it up, and take it to the CBN,” he alleged.

He said, “System Spec and Remita, both collect revenue for the federal government, will share 50 percent, while the banks and the CBN will also have their share.”

He said that by the time the committee finishes its reconciliation, “I am very sure that hundreds of billions of naira will be the VAT component that was not remitted to FIRS.”

According to him, each bank ought to take the money and directly remit it to FIRS.

“Now Remita is saying that those collecting should calculate the money that has been shared. How do we track this kind of money?” he asked.

The PAC chairman warned the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji against disregard for the committee, stressing that Adedeji’s actions amounted to contempt of parliament.

Salam said that for four times the committee invited the FIRS chairman but he failed to show up.

According to him, “In addition to writing him officially, we have also made sure that such letters were delivered personally to his mail box and his WhatsApp number.

“And we condemn and describe it as irresponsible and arrogant, and we tell him that there will be consequences if he continues this contempt of parliament.”

He said that several letters had been written him without responses, adding that the Value Added Tax (VAT) that the federal government should be collecting on Remitta had not been collected by FIRS.

The Director of Banking Services of the CBN, Mr Ahmed Abdullahi said they deemed it fit to source for an alternative way of remitting revenue and Remita and System Spec were selected because they had been rendering similar services to banks.

According to him, Remita was engaged in 2011 and operations commenced in 2012 with system module names. The CBN only finalised the transaction

He said that the fees charged under the TSA were in line with the structure of banking. The volume of revenue collection that passed through Remita was N86 million.

Mr. Oyewole Adewale, Chief Accountant, TSA Department, representing the Accountant General for the Federation, accused the CBN of not honoring its letters to reconcile the revenue accrued to the country through TSA.

He said the OAGF had developed a system where all revenue generated by the Ministries of Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) could now be monitored without any interference.

Mr Aderemi Atanda, the Director of Remita Payment Services Ltd., while reading the summary of the TSA collection record, said that 10, 20, and 50 percent were shared among CBN, commercial banks, and Remitta.

He said that collections are not static, they vary.

“From 2015 to 2016, it was N4.2 million, and the fee paid was N8.5 billion; in 2016, N1.3 billion was paid.”