TSA: House of Reps Orders Remita to Refund N182bn to FG

• Federal House of Representatives orders Remita to refund N182.77bn to Federal government.

• The funds were witheld from the Single Treasury Account by the firm also known as SystemSpecs Ltd.

• Other commmerical banks already complied to similar orders served in the past.

The House of Representatives has ordered Remita, a financial technology firm, to refund a total of N182.77bn withheld from the Treasury Single Account to the Federal Government.

The order to Remita, also known as SystemSpecs Ltd, follows discrepancies uncovered at the end of a forensic audit.

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The development revealed that the aforementioned amount was accumulated from 2015 to date.

The directive was issued on Wednesday by the House Committee on Public Accounts during a meeting in Abuja upon the submission of an investigative report by a consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants).

Daily Report Nigeria recalls that the House had mandated the Committee in 2024 to investigate revenue leakages and non-remittance of funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies through Remita.

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Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, revealed that the refund directive stemmed from evidence submitted by the Consultant, as well as documents provided by SystemSpecs/Remita and other stakeholders within the TSA ecosystem.

A breakdown of the liabilities was presented by managing partner of the consulting firm, Dr Adewale Oyebamiji, stating that SystemSpecs was responsible for N3.42bn in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.85m in unpaid acquirer fees, and N179.25bn in unremitted collections.

The Committee’s report on the total payable by Remita 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; Amount Refundable – N993m, interest charges – N2.42bn, totalling N3.42bn.”

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In non–non-remittance of collection, Remita is to refund N54.24bn with interest charges of N125bn, totalling N179bn.

A statement issued by the media unit of PAC on Wednesday read, “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.”

The committee further revealed that some deposit money banks have already complied with similar repayment orders in the past.