The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee on Sunday confirmed the recovery of ₦521,765,134.17 in unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT) from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as part of its ongoing investigation into revenue leakages and outstanding funds due to the Federal Government.
The recovery is one of several outcomes of a comprehensive investigation initiated following a House of Representatives resolution on a motion titled “Investigation of revenue leakages through the Remita platform and substantive non-compliance with standard operating procedures and other allied service-level agreements”, which subsequently mandated the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the matter.
Under the leadership of the committee chairman, Rep. Bamidele Salam, the Public Accounts Committee has undertaken an extensive examination of transactions and remittances connected to the Remita platform with a view to identifying revenue leakages, enforcing compliance, and recovering all outstanding funds due to the Federal Government.
The investigation has led to several recoveries and continues to identify additional liabilities owed to government coffers.
As part of the ongoing exercise, the committee discovered that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had failed to remit VAT amounting to ₦521,765,134.17, representing the tax component on fees earned from Remita transactions.
The committee subsequently directed the apex bank to remit the outstanding amount into the Federal Government Treasury and submit evidence of compliance.
According to the committee’s findings, the unremitted VAT accrued between November 2018 and April 2024.
In a letter dated 7 May 2026, the Central Bank of Nigeria informed the committee that it had complied with the directive and provided evidence showing that the sum of ₦521,765,134.17 had been remitted to the Federal Government.
Speaking on the development, Rep. Salam noted that the recovery demonstrates the effectiveness of legislative oversight in safeguarding public resources and ensuring accountability in the management of government revenue.
He reiterated the committee’s commitment to recovering all funds due to the Federal Government and plugging avenues of revenue leakage across public institutions.
The committee disclosed that its engagement with the CBN is ongoing, particularly on the reconciliation and recovery of other outstanding liabilities.
These include unrefunded charges amounting to ₦954,302,576.67 and accrued interest of ₦2,329,027,728.92, bringing the total recoverable sum under that category to ₦3,283,330,305.59 for the period between 1 March 2015 and 31 October 2015.
The committee is also pursuing the recovery of unrefunded Treasury Single Account (TSA) collections amounting to ₦8,993,551,555.94, with accrued interest of ₦20,727,241,152.04, bringing the total outstanding liability under that category to ₦29,720,792,707.98, alongside other amounts yet to be recovered on behalf of the Federal Government.
The Public Accounts Committee is scheduled to continue its investigative hearing on the matter on Monday, 8 June 2026, at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
