Reps summon Cardoso, Edun regarding audit violations, breaches of fiscal law
NASS
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Joint House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts and Public Assets has called upon Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso and the Finance Minister, Wale Edun to appear before them on Monday, June 16, 2025.
This request arises from allegations of failure to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
These senior government officials are also expected to respond to inquiries regarding the internal control deficiencies highlighted in the 2021 reports from the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.
In a letter jointly signed by Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, and Ademorin Kuye, Chairman of the Committee on Public Assets, the Committee requested that both the Finance Minister and the CBN Governor provide information concerning the remittance of operating surpluses to the Federation Account, as required by applicable laws and regulations.
Recall that the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the Auditor General for the Federation have submitted reports alleging that several Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government including the CBN have failed to remit or under remitted their operating surpluses as required by extant financial laws and regulations in the past six years.
According to the Public Accounts Committee Chairman, “These violations have negatively impacted the liquidity of the federal government and constitute a hindrance to effective implementation of the budgets passed by parliament.”
The Committee said it had given both the Finance Ministry and the apex bank adequate time to reconcile their accounts and present their positions in order to determine the degree of financial liabilities involved, hence the need for a final hearing to resolve the issues.
The Committee is equally looking at a report in the Auditor General for the Federation’s statutory report alleging that several public assets which had been fully paid for have not been completed and put into use for many years.
The statement added, “Some of these projects in Dutse, Abeokuta, and other locations were awarded between 2011 and 2016 but have yet to be completed according to audit reports.”
