CBN queried over Missing $3.3 billion foreign tax

The Senate has issued a query to Nigeria’s Central Bank over alleged unremitted $3.3bn from the $21.3bn collected by the FIRS as a foreign tax in 2015.

Senate acted on an audit query raised against the CBN by the office of the auditor-general.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been mandated to explain why $21.3 billion remitted to the apex bank by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as foreign tax in 2015 has a shortfall of $3.3 billion.

It was reported that the call was made by the Senate committee on public accounts, on Wednesday, June 4. According to Senate, the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in an audit query revealed that while FIRS recorded $21.3 billion as a total sum of foreign tax collected by it in 2015 and domiciled in the apex bank, CBN on the other hand, recorded $18 billion.

The Senate also revealed that CBN’s deputy governor (Corporate Affairs), Edward Lamatek Adamu, was unable to satisfactorily give a reason for the missing money. Senate acted on an audit query raised against the CBN by the Office of the auditor-general.

Adamu had claimed that the $3.3 billion was not missing or unremitted. He was reported to have said that variations in the exchange rate during the period resulted in variation of amounts recorded by FIRS and CBN.

This did not go well with the Senate and as a result, the upper chamber has called for documents to back the claim up.