The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the OAGF to provide comprehensive details of outstanding operating surplus owed by the CBN, NNPCL and other agencies, as well as records of deductions and refunds involving MDAs
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to furnish it with details of unremitted operating surplus and other revenues allegedly owed the Federal Government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other government agencies.
The committee also demanded explanations over the alleged withdrawal of billions of naira, including N15 billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), as well as deductions from the accounts of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The directives were issued on Monday when the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, appeared before the committee during an investigative hearing.
Raising the issue, a member of the committee, Rep. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, expressed concern over the persistent non-remittance of revenues by government-owned enterprises, describing it as a major challenge to Nigeria’s fiscal sustainability.
According to him, while many government business entities are required to remit up to 80 per cent of their operating surplus to the Federal Government, there are still significant outstanding remittances.
“There appears to still be some backlog of remittances. Can you give us some figures around this? As members of the economic team, how satisfied are you with the performance of agencies like the CBN, SEC, NIMASA and others, considering the assets under their control?” he asked.
Responding, the Director of Revenue and Investment at the OAGF, Makinde Mogaji, disclosed that the CBN alone allegedly owes the Federal Government N5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus.
He said despite repeated efforts by the Public Accounts Committee to recover the funds, the apex bank had yet to comply.
“Early last year, the CBN owed the Federal Government N5.3 trillion as operating surplus. Despite the efforts of the PAC to recover the money, the CBN refused to pay. About 70 per cent of that amount ought to have been remitted,” Mogaji said.
He added that other agencies had made varying levels of remittances, citing the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which, according to him, had remitted N473 billion.
On the controversy surrounding automatic deductions from the accounts of MDAs, the Accountant-General defended the policy, describing it as a mechanism introduced to enable government access expected operating surplus in advance.
He explained that the initiative significantly boosted government revenue last year.
“That was an ingenious way of taking in advance what is due to government, and it enabled us to generate substantial revenue,” Ogunjimi said.
He, however, acknowledged that several agencies challenged the deductions and sought presidential intervention.
“Some agencies went behind us to seek reversals. Some got total cancellation while others secured reductions in the deductions. That has affected the level of revenue we were able to generate this year.
“There were also instances where agencies like the NNPCL completely refused to cooperate. Some of the issues are still being handled by a post-mortem committee,” he added.
Providing further clarification, Mogaji said the automatic deduction system was designed as an advance recovery mechanism, with final reconciliations carried out after agencies computed their actual operating surplus.
“The mechanism has been working. At the end of the financial year, agencies’ operating surplus is computed to determine whether they were over-deducted or under-deducted, after which necessary adjustments are made,” he explained.
The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Bamidele Salam, however, questioned the legality and impact of the deductions, noting that several agencies, including UBEC and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), had complained that statutory funds earmarked for their core responsibilities were withdrawn by the OAGF.
Salam said UBEC alleged that N16 billion approved under its Authority to Incur Expenditure for November 2025 was not released, while another N15 billion was deducted from its account without being refunded.
“We have ongoing investigations involving UBEC and other agencies. UBEC complained that N15 billion was taken from its account and has not been refunded. NASENI also raised similar concerns involving over N70 billion. Several agencies have made the same complaint,” he said.
Responding, Ogunjimi insisted that the OAGF does not arbitrarily withdraw funds from agency accounts, explaining that such actions are taken only after due analysis and on the directive of the Minister of Finance to meet urgent government financial obligations.
“When government has pressing financial obligations, we examine agencies’ accounts to determine funds that have remained idle for months. Where necessary, such funds are temporarily utilised and refunded when required.
“It is like borrowing. We don’t just pick money from agencies’ accounts. For example, we borrowed over N300 billion from TETFund and refunded the entire amount,” he said.
But Salam faulted the explanation, arguing that the deductions had disrupted the statutory responsibilities of affected agencies.
“Which agencies have actually been refunded? UBEC is complaining, NASENI is complaining, NBC is complaining. We have more than six agencies under investigation making similar allegations.
“These agencies have constitutional mandates. UBEC, for instance, is expected to build schools and provide learning infrastructure. At a time when Nigeria has about 13.5 million out-of-school children, taking funds meant for basic education to finance other government obligations cannot be justified,” the committee chairman said.
The committee directed the OAGF to provide comprehensive details of outstanding operating surplus owed by the CBN, NNPCL and other agencies, as well as records of deductions and refunds involving MDAs, as investigations continue.
