The Managing Director/CEO of REMITA, Mr Deremi Atanda, disclosed this during the investigative hearing on “alleged revenue leakages through REMITA platform and non-compliance substantively with standard operating procedure and other allied service agreement’, called by the Public Accounts Committee in Abuja on Wednesday.
To verify the workings of the bond signed between the Central Bank of Nigeria and Systemspec/REMITA on the revenue collection, the Bamidele Salam-led Committee resolved to invite the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, and CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, to appear in person to give an account of the roles played by each of the institutions.
In the documents submitted to the committee, instead of the N343.119 billion in fee income due at the contracted rate of one per cent flat, which the stakeholders are entitled to (against the conventional five to seven per cent fee), according to the agreement signed in 2015, the sum of N23.92 billion in actual fee income was applied.
In the 2018 circular on the chargeable fees guidelines on e-collection, the sharing formula revealed that all the stakeholders are to share the sum of N150 per transaction- Deposit Money Banks 33 per cent, CBN – 11 per cent, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System – 10.5 per cent, Office of Accountant General of the Federation 2.5 per cent, while REMITA and other stakeholders including card issuers take 43 per cent of the chargeable fees.
Dismissing the aims that REMITA imposed an additional fee apart from the approved N150 (which represents 10 per cent at the current exchange rate) on the revenue-generating Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Atanda noted that the payment solution platform provides additional technology services to the federation free of charge.
In his words, the sum of N1.5 trn was remitted in 2015, N2.8 trn in 2016, N3.7 trn in 2017, N4.6 trn in 2018, N4.6 trn in 2019, N4.2 trn in 2020 being the COVID year, N6 trn in 2021, while N6.8 trn was realised in the 2022 fiscal year.
“The CBN engaged REMITA to provide the service as part of efforts geared towards shoring up revenue accrued to Federation. Relevant agreements were signed, and standard operating procedures were followed.
“one per cent agreement fee payable to all the stakeholders involved in the contract agreement was reached in 2020 following an earlier investigative hearing conducted where CBN, banks, REMITA, and other staff involved were asked to refund the chargeable fees collected from the services provided since inception,” he said.
He also disclosed that CBN and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation have 100 per cent access to the platform while all revenues accruing into each of the 1,137 MDAs that pay through the REMITA platform get the funds, adding that the apex bank accesses such revenues daily.
On possible leakages, the REMITA boss urged the National Assembly to ensure that all dollar-related revenue is captured into the revenue collection gateway, noting that the focus has been strictly on naira revenue in the past nine years.
While responding to a question on the contract signed with Remita, the Accountant General of the Federation, represented by the Director of Single Treasury, Mr Mohammed Bello, disclosed that the 2.5 per cent fee accrued to OAGF goes directly into the Federal Government’s account,
In his ruling, PAC Chairman, Bamidele Salam emphasised the need for the physical appearance of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, CBN Governor, and Accountant General of the Federation before the Committee, on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
