Reps query Ecobank, others over N11.632 trn FG revenue collected
The House of Representatives has queried Access Bank, Citi Bank, Ecobank, and Fidelity Bank over N11.632 trillion in revenue collected on behalf of the federal government through the REMITA platform between the 2015 and 2022 fiscal years.
Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, issued the query at the resumed investigative hearing on ‘alleged revenue leakages through the REMITA platform in Abuja.
The investigation also covered non-compliance with standard operating procedures and other allied service agreements.
The committee demanded all the agreements signed between all the participating domestic banks and System Spec/REMITA during the period under review.
According to the records obtained by the newsmen, Access Bank collected a total sum of N2.661 trillion for 3,502,486 transactions between 2015 and 2022.
According to the Access Bank record submitted to the Committee, a total sum of N2,660,974,062,151.62 in revenue was collected for the period under review.
Also, the sum of N858,734,455.99 was earned for the service rendered.
On its part, Citi Bank collected the sum of N643,427,225,110.96 between 2016 and 2022.
According to Citi Bank records submitted to the Committee, a sum of N2,435,932.34 was earned for a total of N34,656,636,415.24 transactions carried out in 2016.
Also, N9,134,312.05 was earned for a total of N61,023,589,404.01 in transactions carried out in 2018.
The bank, however, failed to disclose the fees earned for the 2017–2019, 2020–2021, and 2022 fiscal years, respectively.
Records further showed that Ecobank collected the sum of N1,480,576,309.08 from 1,557,487 transactions carried out between 2015 and 2022.
From the amount, Ecobank earned the sum of N253,848,598.05 in fees in the period under review.
Available records on the transactions carried out by Fidelity Bank showed that the sum of N6.847 trillion was collected on behalf of the Federal Government in 11,696,547 transactions carried out between 2015 and 2022.
From the transactions carried out, the bank generated a N789,294,408.86 fee for the period under consideration.
Addressing the banks’ representatives, the committee requested all the agreements signed by the banks with Systemspec/REMITA to collect revenue on behalf of the federal government for the period under review.
The lawmakers also demanded a breakdown of value-added tax (VAT) and withholding tax (WHT) collected within the period and evidence of payment into relevant government coffers.
