House of reps orders Remita to refund N182.77 billion in transaction leakages to FG

The Nigerian House of Representatives has directed payment platform, Remita, to refund a total of N182.77 billion in transaction leakages from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015. The refund, to be credited to the Federal Government, stems from an investigation into the reported discrepancy in 2024.

According to the decision made by the Public Account Committee (PAC) of the House, the directive was concluded based on an in-depth forensic audit by the consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants). Last year, the House mandated the committee to investigate alleged revenue leakages and non-remittance of funds by ministries, departments, and agencies through Remita.

“The committee recommends that SystemSpecs Ltd be compelled to refund the total sum of N182.77bn to the Federal Government Asset Recovery Account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, account number: 0020054161191,” a statement issued by the media unit of PAC reads.

Remita has been the primary payment gateway for the Federal Government of Nigeria’s TSA since 2012, facilitating the collection and remittance of government revenue and enabling secure online and offline payments from individuals, businesses, and other entities to government entities.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, resolved that the decision was based on evidence submitted by the investigative agency, documents provided by Remita and other stakeholders related to the case.

He praised the forensic consultants for their thorough and patriotic job, emphasising that the effort supports transparency and is significant for Nigeria’s fiscal accountability framework.

Also Read: FG replaces Remita with TMRAS as it moves to redesign revenue collection.

In an explicit breakdown of the liabilities, the managing partner of the Consulting firm, Dr Adewale Oyebamiji, explained that Remita was responsible for N3.42bn in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.85m in unpaid acquirer fees, and N179.25bn in unremitted collections. The report added that the total payable by Remita for the first regime was calculated at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate of 27.25 per cent.

“Under-Refund of Transaction processing fee; Amount Refundable – N993m, interest charges – N2.42bn, totalling N3.42bn, Non-payment of the acquirer fee has a refundable amount of N29.60m, interest charges of N72. 25bn totalling: N101.85m. In non–non-remittance of collection, Remita is to refund N54.24bn with interest charges of N125bn, totalling N179bn,” the report reads.

PAC pointed out that some commercial banks that fall under similar repayment orders have complied and called on other TSA value chain service providers who are yet to comply to do so promptly.

TMRAS and Remita integration 

While Remita has been a key player in being a payment gateway for public transactions, the Nigerian government is now integrating it with the Treasury Management and Revenue Assurance System (TMRAS), which aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and accountability in public fund management. 

The initiative, being effective since March 4, is structured to manage revenue collections and payments across federal ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), including those benefiting from donor funds, trust funds, social security funds, and special funds.

The system will allow the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and MDAs to generate bank statements, track balances, and activate automatic deduction and remittance of taxes associated with vendor and contractor payments, including VAT, Withholding Tax, and Stamp Duty.

While making a recent remark on the initiative last month, the OAGF emphasised that the Federal Government has not abandoned Remita as its approved Central Bank of Nigeria payment gateway, but rather a system that complements the new TMRAS.

“The OAGF explained that Remitta would rather be integrated into the Treasury Management and Revenue Assurance alongside other eligible Payment Solution Service Providers for government revenue collection and remittances to enhance liberalisation,” it said.

In addition, it emphasised that the initiative would help liberalise the revenue collection process, ensuring that multiple secure payment providers licensed by the CBN can operate alongside Remita to facilitate transactions.