House of Reps Conducts Audit, Orders Fintech to Refund N182 Billion to FG

• The House of Representatives has ordered Remita, a popular fintech used for handling the government's revenue collection, to refund N182 billion
• The lawmakers announced that an audit showed unremitted sums dating back to 2015
• The House of Representatives also calculated interests on the unremitted sum and asked the company to refund

In 2024, the House of Representatives instructed the Public Accounts Committee to investigate revenue leakages and funds that were not remitted by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

Following the results of that forensic audit, lawmakers have instructed the financial technology company, Remita, to refund N182.77 billion to the federal government.

This sum was identified in the audit as the total amount withheld by Remita from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) since 2015.

The audit that uncovered the discrepancy was said to have been done by a firm, Seyi Katola & Company (Chartered Accountants), and submitted to the lawmakers.

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Speaking on the issues, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Bamidele Salam, explained that the consultant did the audit on documents provided by the Remita, also known as SystemSpecs, and other key players within the TSA system.

Breakdown of what Remita is to refund to FG

Dr Adewale Oyebamiji, the managing partner of the consulting firm, Seyi Katola & Company, gave a breakdown of the N182 billion to be refunded based on the audit.

The committee’s report on the total amount Remita owes for the first regime, calculated at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Rate of 27.25%, includes the following.

• Under-refunding of transaction processing fees: The refundable amount is N993 million, with interest charges of N2.42 billion, bringing the total to N3.42 billion.
• Unpaid acquirer fees: The refundable amount is N29.60 million, with interest charges of N72.25 million, totalling N101.85 million.
• Unremitted collections: Remita is required to refund N54.24 billion, with interest charges of N125 billion, making the total refund N179.25 billion.

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House of Reps demands refund from Remita

In a statement on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended that the fintech be made to refund the entire sum to the Federal Government Asset Recovery Account domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, with account number: 0020054161191.

The committee also urged other TSA value chain service providers to adhere to issued payment orders, noting that some banks have already complied, according to reports by the PUNCH.

FG terminates partnership with Remita

Recall that the federal government recently terminated its revenue collection partnership with Remita in March 2025.

The government is now going with a new revenue collection system, which will be implemented in phases.

The first phase started in March, while the second phase of implementation is set to take off in the second half of 2025.

NDIC ignores Remita, uses NIBSS

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Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) adopted the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBBS) platform to pay depositors of the failed Heritage Bank.

NDIC noted that its attempts to use Remita were met with many hitches and limitations in the systems, hence the switch to facilitate easy payment.

NDIC’s deputy director, Pamela Roberts, noted that even though they had used Remita for decades, it was unable to handle the large payments they needed to make at the time.

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng