The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has directed Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) to remit Value-Added Tax (VAT) collected through the Remita platform between 2015 and 2022 to the federal government’s recovery account.
Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, issued the directive during an investigation into alleged revenue leakages through Remita. The committee is also probing noncompliance with standard operating procedures.
GTBank’s Executive Director, Ahmed Liman, revealed that the bank didn’t remit VAT for eight years, claiming Remita deducted VAT before sharing commissions. He stated, “We believe Remita is responsible for sharing commission fees between parties.”
The committee discovered GTBank charged 0.75% on Remita transactions and received N254.5 million from the Accountant General in 2018.
Other banks under scrutiny include Keystone, Zenith, Sterling, Polaris, FCMB, Ecobank, and Wema. In November 2023, the committee investigated Ecobank, Citi Bank, Access, and Fidelity over N11.632 trillion revenue collected through Remita between 2015 and 2022.
This development highlights the committee’s efforts to address revenue leakages and ensure accountability in Nigeria’s financial sector.
