The House of Representatives has instructed Remita (SystemSpecs Ltd) to refund N182.77 billion that was withheld from the Treasury Single Account since 2015.
This follows a forensic audit revealing discrepancies, and the directive was issued after the Public Accounts Committee reviewed a report from consulting firm Seyi Katola & Company.
In 2024, the House had tasked the Committee with investigating revenue leakages and non-remittance of funds by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies via Remita.
During Wednesday’s meeting, Committee Chairman Bamidele Salam confirmed that the resolution to refund the N182.77 billion was based on evidence from the consulting firm and documents provided by SystemSpecs/Remita and other TSA stakeholders.
The managing partner of the consulting firm, provided a breakdown of the liabilities. The report indicated that SystemSpecs owed N3.42 billion in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.85 million in unpaid acquirer fees, and N179.25 billion in unremitted collections.
The report stated that SystemSpecs was liable for N3.42 billion in under-refunded transaction processing fees, N101.85 million in outstanding acquirer fees, and N179.25 billion in collections that were not remitted to the government.
According to 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.”
The report detailed that the non-payment of acquirer fees included a refundable amount of N29.60 million and interest charges of N72.25 million, bringing the total to N101.85 million.
For the non-remittance of collections, Remita is to refund N54.24 billion in principal and pay interest charges of N125 billion, amounting to a total of N179.25 billion.
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 also noted that several deposit money banks have complied with previous repayment directives.
It urged other service providers within the TSA value chain who are yet to fulfill their obligations to do so promptly.
Salam praised the forensic consultants for what he called a thorough and patriotic effort, highlighting that their work promotes transparency and reinforces Nigeria’s fiscal accountability framework.
