•Query OAGF over deductions from MDAs

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) to provide a comprehensive breakdown of outstanding funds owed to the federal government through unremitted Operating Surplus and other revenues by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other government agencies.

The committee also requested explanations over the alleged withdrawal of N15 billion from the account of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), alongside similar deductions from the accounts of other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by the OAGF.

The directives were issued on Monday during an investigative hearing of the committee, where the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, appeared before lawmakers.

Raising the issue, a member of the committee, Hon. Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, described the persistent non-remittance of revenues by government agencies as a major challenge to Nigeria’s fiscal sustainability.

According to him, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains among the lowest on the continent at about 16 per cent, stressing that while government-owned business entities are expected to remit about 80 per cent of their operating surplus, with others required to remit between 20 and 50 per cent, there still appears to be a significant backlog in remittances.

Isiaka asked the OAGF to provide details of the outstanding remittances and questioned whether the performance of major revenue-generating agencies such as the CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others, reflected the scale of assets under their control.

He argued that beyond applying statutory remittance percentages, it was necessary to scrutinise the actual operating surplus declared by these agencies and identify revenues yet to be paid into government coffers.

Responding, the Director of Revenue and Investment at the OAGF, Mr. Makinde Mogaji, disclosed the CBN allegedly owed the federal government about N5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus.

Mogaji explained that despite repeated efforts by the Public Accounts Committee to recover the funds, the apex bank had allegedly failed to comply with the requirement to remit 70 per cent of its operating surplus.

He described the CBN as one of the government’s largest potential revenue sources, while noting that agencies such as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had remitted about N473 billion.

Addressing concerns over the automatic deduction of revenues from MDAs, which in some cases reportedly resulted in reversals due to alleged over-remittances, the Accountant General said the policy was introduced as an innovative mechanism to collect government revenue in advance.

According to Ogunjimi, the initiative significantly boosted government revenue in the previous year but later encountered resistance from several agencies, many of which sought presidential intervention to reverse or reduce the deductions.

He explained that while some deductions were completely cancelled and others reduced, the development affected the volume of revenue realised through the initiative.

The AGF further disclosed that the NNPCL had also failed to fully cooperate with the process, adding that the company was at one point asked to leave discussions due to its non-compliance.

He however noted that although the NNPCL had accepted liability on some issues, it disputed others, all of which are currently being reviewed by a post-mortem committee.

Providing further clarification, Mogaji stated the automatic deduction mechanism introduced last year had been functioning effectively.

He explained it was designed to deduct operating surplus in advance, after which agencies’ financial records would be reconciled at the end of the year to determine whether they had been over-deducted or still owed government.

He added that while preliminary figures were available, they could not yet be regarded as final.

Chairman of the committee, Hon. Bamidele Salam, said the panel had received several complaints from UBEC and other MDAs alleging that funds meant for their statutory responsibilities were deducted by the OAGF and diverted for unrelated government expenditures.

Salam revealed that during an ongoing investigation, UBEC informed the committee that funds approved for its November 2025 expenditure had not been released by the Accountant General.

He said the commission specifically alleged that N16 billion was withheld while another N15 billion was withdrawn from its account without refund.

He added that similar complaints had also been received from the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), which reportedly alleged deductions exceeding N70 billion, alongside several other government agencies.

In response, the Accountant General admitted that the OAGF had, on several occasions, temporarily drawn funds from the accounts of some agencies to meet urgent financial obligations of government.

He described the practice as borrowing rather than outright withdrawal, insisting the funds were always refunded.

Ogunjimi stressed that such decisions were not taken unilaterally, explaining that they followed directives from the Minister of Finance and were based on an assessment of how long the affected funds had remained unused.

According to him, where agency funds had remained dormant for several months while government urgently required financing, the OAGF would temporarily utilise the funds before refunding them when needed.

He cited the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as an example, stating that over N300 billion had been borrowed from the agency and subsequently refunded in full.

However, Salam questioned the justification for the deductions, insisting that many of the affected agencies continued to complain that their funds had not been returned, thereby undermining their ability to perform their statutory responsibilities.

The committee chairman noted that UBEC, NASENI, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and several other agencies currently under investigation had all raised similar concerns, alleging that the Accountant General routinely accessed their accounts, leaving them without the resources required to execute their primary mandates.

He specifically warned that the diversion of UBEC funds had far-reaching implications for the country’s education sector, particularly in northern Nigeria, where about 13.5 million children remain out of school.

Salam stressed that UBEC’s statutory responsibility includes constructing schools, providing educational infrastructure and supplying instructional materials, adding that such obligations could not be effectively discharged if funds earmarked for those purposes were diverted to other government expenditures. (THISDAY)

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