Appear before our committee on Sept. 7 or face arrest — Reps threaten AGF

The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, has been summoned to testify before the House Ad hoc committee probing the non-remittance to the National Housing Fund (NHF) and the utilization of money.

The committee has ordered Madein’s arrest unless he appears before it on September 7.

This was disclosed on Thursday, when the Director of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) testified before the committee in Abuja over the non-remittance to the NHF.

The committee had requested an explanation from IPPIS under the Office of the AGF as to why it had not made a payment to NHF.

But since the committee was unnerved by the IPPIS director’s presentation, they demanded to meet with the AGF in person.

A letter from the Director of IPPIS explaining why the AGF could not come today did not appease the committee’s concerns, therefore she was asked to appear again.

The committee concluded that the IPPIS director was unable to satisfactorily respond to the majority of their inquiries and demanded that he appear on September 7 alongside the AGF and be prepared to provide more explanation.

We cannot take the same man who could not give us the information we need from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation,” stated Committee Chairman Rep. Dachung Bagos.

We don’t want to give the impression that we’re witch-hunting, and the speaker has asked for a fair hearing. We would grant the AGF a fair hearing if he or she chose to come at a later date.

IPPIS reportedly said it was having trouble sending money to NHF, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Since IPPIS was not prepared to answer the committee’s inquiries, it requested that Remital, the private organization responsible for remitting the payments, also reappear on September 7.

The committee chairman, however, praised Remital for coming prepared and faulted the IPPIS for failing to bring the information needed to question the company.

The United Bank for Africa (UBA), Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, and Heritage Bank are also testifying at the investigation hearing alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to Bagos, the NHF Act, which established the NHF, requires knowledge of the banking sector’s investments.

Mr. Eke Ogba, General Manager of UBA, reported that the company has donated about N2.5 billion to NHF between January 2011 and July 2023.

That’s a lot of money. The monthly summary has been provided by us. We have also detailed the monthly deductions that are taken from each employee’s paycheck.

We just conduct deductions and payments, so I can’t advise you on investments. All we know is how much has been withheld from each employee, but I’ll acquire the investment specifics for you.