By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
The House of Representatives has directed Remita, a financial technology firm, to refund a total of N182.769,245,175.20 withheld from the Treasury Single Account, TSA, since 2015 to the federal government.
The directive came following a forensic audit that uncovered significant financial discrepancies by the firm SystemSpecs Ltd.
The Public Accounts Committee, PAC, of the House gave the order during a hearing in Abuja on Wednesday, following the submission of an investigative report by consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants).
Recall that the House of Representatives had, in 2024, mandated the committee to investigate revenue leakages and non-remittance of funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies MDAs through Remita.
The committee chairman, Bamidele Salam, explained that the resolution was based on evidence submitted by the consultant, documents provided by SystemSpecs/Remita and other stakeholders within the Treasury Single Account ecosystem.
During the session, the managing partner of the consulting firm, Dr Adewale Oyebamiji, presented the breakdown of the liabilities.
The audit found that SystemSpecs was responsible for:- N3.416,494,011.91 in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.850,246.99 in unpaid acquirer fees, and N179.250,900,916.30 in unremitted collections.
According to the committee’s report on the total payable by System Specs Limited for the first regime, calculated at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate of 27.25 per cent, Under-Refund of Transaction processing fee; the amount refundable was N993,006,714.31 while interest charges stood at N2,423,487,297.60, totalling N3,416,494,011.91.
On the other hand,the non-payment of the acquirer fee is refundable at N29,602,855.67, with interest charges at N72,247,391.32, totalling N101,850,246.99.
Also, the non-remittance of collection refundable was N54,241,561,948.88, with interest being N125,009,338,967.42, totalling N179,250,900,916.30.
“The above breakdown amounts to N182,769,245,175.20 refundable by the System specs/Remit.
“The committee hereby recommends that SystemSpecs Ltd be compelled to refund the total sum of N182,769,245,175.20 to the Federal Government Asset Recovery Account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), account number: 0020054161191,” Salam declared.
The committee noted that some deposit money banks have already complied with similar repayment orders.
“Public Accounts committee called on other TSA value chain service providers who are yet to comply to do so promptly, Rep. Salam said.
He commended the forensic consultants for their thorough and patriotic work, emphasizing that the effort supports transparency and strengthens Nigeria’s fiscal accountability framework.
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