N1.2tr unclaimed funds: Reps panel discovers N300bn in commercial banks, MDAs

Since the start of its inquiry, the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on the Recovery of N1.2 trillion in Unclaimed Funds in Commercial Banks, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified about N300 billion.

Unyime Idem (PDP, Akwa Ibom), the Committee’s Chairman, revealed this following a meeting with Citi Bank and officials from the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) on Wednesday.

He explained that the Committee was established in response to a House resolution passed on January 26th, 2022, to investigate and retrieve the N1.2 trillion owed to the federal government, which was allegedly stashed in commercial banks, MDAs, and other locations.

The monies were said to be trapped in dormant bank accounts in local and foreign currencies, accounts without BVN, failed contracts, excess unremitted funds, and other places.

Earlier, the chairman of Citi Bank informed the management team that the bank owes the federal government a total of N99 billion out of a total of N1.2 trillion due by roughly 500 organizations, including commercial banks, MDAs, and others.

He produced a list of accounts in Citi Bank that he claimed held such funds, and he demanded an explanation from bank authorities.

Members of the committee who made specific observations asked the authorities to clarify the status of accounts belonging to ABS Ltd, Global Offshore Ltd, and Titan Energy Ltd, all of which they claimed had funds in both Naira and Dollars.

However, Ngozi Omoke-Enyi, the Bank’s Executive Director of Operations and Technology, stated that the Committee’s letter, which was detailed in its requirements, had been followed.

She revealed that they had presented the committee with seven (7) accounts that lacked a Bank Verification Number (BVN).

The Committee, on the other hand, argued that they had extracted more than seven accounts that needed to be examined based on the bank’s paperwork.

The Citi Bank officials were directed to reconcile their accounts and return for clarifications after the deliberations.

The Committee, on the other hand, said that according to their records, the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) owed the federal government N5.2 billion in unremitted revenue, operational surplus, and other money between 2015 and 2021.

James Akwa, NIPC’s Director of Finance, went before the Committee and requested an extension of time to reconcile their accounts.

He informed the Committee that due to the challenges they experienced since 2016, they only made two remittances as specified by the Committee.

As a result, the Committee gave the NIPC a week to reconcile and reappear before it on Wednesday.