KEY POINTS

• The House of Representatives instructed Remita to pay back N182.77 billion to the federal government.
• The TSA management showed discrepancies through an audit that led to the refund amount determined by forensic investigators.
• As a member of the PAC the representative demands payment conformity from TSA service providers regarding appointment repayment deadlines.

Remita (SystemSpecs Ltd) will return N182.77 billion amount that remained trapped in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015 according to House of Representatives instruction.

The order stems from findings produced through a forensic audit on fund management inconsistencies.

At a meeting held in Abuja on Wednesday the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) issued an order after receiving findings from the investigative report by consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants).

Remita emerged as the main topic of investigation by the committee which studied revenue loss and unpaid funds pertaining to Ministries Departments Agencies (MDAs).

Breakdown of liabilities as Reps order Remita to refund

The resolution derived its basis from evidence produced by consultants as well as documents provided by SystemSpecs/Remita and stakeholders of the TSA ecosystem according to PAC Chairman Bamidele Salam. According to the forensic audit report, Reps order Remita, Remita must pay several liabilities that total:

There were N3.42 billion underpaid processing fees which included N2.42 billion in accrued interest.
N106 million from unpaid acquire fees along with N72 billion in interest fees.
The N179.25bn consolidated amount includes N125bn worth of interest fees due to payment non-remittance.

According to a PAC media statement SystemSpecs Limited must provide the entire N182.77 billion to the Government’s Asset Recovery Account maintained at the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Other TSA service providers received a committee recommendation to comply with the same repayment orders because some deposit money banks had already followed the directive.

Committee commends forensic consultants

The forensic consultants received praise from Salam for their detailed investigations because it generates transparency and enhances financial responsibility in Nigeria.

The committee focuses its work on maintaining pubic finance integrity while resolving the problems that occur during public fund administration.