Senate To Report CBN, FIRS, Customs To Tinubu For Snubbing Summons

The Nigerian Senate has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the refusal of certain revenue-generating agencies to respond to queries raised in the report from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF).

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Senator Aliyu Ahmed Wadada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, voiced shock at how billions of naira had left government coffers without proper accountability. He lamented that several agencies ignored the Senate’s summons, despite legislative provisions that empower the parliament to investigate public funds.

According to Wadada, the Auditor General’s report revealed significant financial mismanagement in some agencies, including the **Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL),** all of which failed to honor invitations to account for their handling of funds.

He warned that the Senate might escalate the matter by reporting the heads of these agencies to President Bola Tinubu.

Flanked by other committee members at the briefing, Wadada emphasized:
“All efforts to get the Nigeria Customs Service to the table to explain how this happened and the way forward have yielded no results.”

Specifically addressing the **CBN’s financial transactions under the Ways and Means framework**, he said:
“It is important for Nigerians to know what happened under the so-called Ways and Means. Why did the Central Bank of Nigeria debit the borrower and credit the borrower?
The CBN debited the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account and credited the Treasury Single Account (TSA), amounting to over N30 trillion.

The Consolidated Revenue Fund account is the government’s account, and the TSA is also the government’s account. But in charging interest, instead of charging it to the Treasury account, they again went ahead to charge the Consolidated Revenue Fund account, which has now accumulated to over **N6 trillion.**”

The Senate is expected to take further action, possibly compelling the agencies to appear before the Public Accounts Committee or facing consequences from the executive arm of government.