Alarmed by the alleged payment of N25 billion commission to a private consultancy firm, REMITA from N2.5 trillion moped up in Treasury Single Account (TSA), the Senate on Wednesday ordered immediate investigation into the matter.
Senator Dino Mealaye had informed his colleagues about the appointment of REMITA as an agent for the operation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He however, noted that the appointment of agent negates and contravene section 162(1) of the 1999 constitution which provides. That-” The federation shall maintain a Special Account to be called “The Federation Account” into which all revenue collected by the government of the Federation, except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the Ministry or Department of government charged with foreign Affairs and the residents of the FCT Abuja.”
Speaking further, Senator Melaye said, the provision of the constitution empowers, the Central Bank of Nigeria as the sole institution that is mandated to collect and disburse money on behalf of the federal government.
Meanwhile, the Senate leader, Senator Mohammed Ndume, in his contribution said he had called the CBN governor, Godwin Emefile to confirm the issue from but Apex Bank governor said he was not aware of the commission.
On his part, Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah said that there was need for Senate to identify the firm involved in the Commission.
“I will lead all the youth in the country in a national protest against the Federal government if nothing is done. I was a banker for over 12 years and I was a commissioner of finance for seven and a half year. This is the height of criminality. We did not need a 3rd party to ensure compliance on TSA,” Senator Bassey Albert Akpan (PDP, Akwa Ibom, North-East) vowed.
Senator Adamu Aliero, in his contribution called for restraint, saying “I hope we are not acting on rumours because the Senate leader has spoken that he was unaware of it”.
Consequently, the Senate unanimously adopted a motion sponsored by Dino Melaye and 36 other senators directing the CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance to suspend further payment into the account of REMITA pending the conclusion of its investigation.
