The House of Representatives Public Account Committee (PAC) remains firm in its demand for the appearance of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Yemi Cardoso, regarding the investigation into alleged revenue leakages through the REMITA platform.
Chairman of the PAC, Bamidele Salam, reiterated this stance during an investigative hearing organized by the committee, emphasizing the necessity for Edun and Cardoso to personally appear before the lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director/CEO of REMITA, Mr. ‘Deremi Atanda, disclosed that a total of N34.311 trillion in revenue was generated through the REMITA platform into the Federation Account between 2015 and 2022.
Atanda dismissed speculations of REMITA imposing additional fees beyond the approved N150 charge (equivalent to 10 cents at the current exchange rate) on revenue-generating MDAs. He clarified that the REMITA payment gateway platform offers additional technology services to the Federation at no extra cost, despite incurring foreign exchange expenses for hosting the platform on a cloud-based platform.
Providing a breakdown, Atanda revealed that N1.5 trillion was remitted through the platform in 2015, N2.8 trillion in 2016, N3.7 trillion in 2017, N4.6 trillion in 2018, N4.6 trillion in 2019, N4.2 trillion in 2020 (during the COVID-19 year), N6 trillion in 2021, and N6.8 trillion in 2022.
He emphasized that REMITA was engaged by the CBN as part of efforts to bolster the federation’s revenue, with relevant agreements signed and standard operating procedures adhered to.
Furthermore, Atanda clarified that both the CBN and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation have full access to the REMITA platform. Revenues accruing into each of the 1,137 MDAs that utilize the REMITA platform are accessible to the apex bank on a daily basis, ensuring prompt remittance.
