Reps summon Emefiele to account for $49.52m recovered funds

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has been summoned by the House of Representatives, as lawmakers open an investigation into activities of the financial regulator.

The CBN, under Emefiele, has been accused of failing to disclose recovered funds in its possession, and the apex bank boss will be facing the House committee on public account.

It was gathered that the probe was centred on the period between 2016-2019, when over $40.52 million was recovered, however, this fund hasn’t been accounted for.

The non-disclosure was discovered by the office of the auditor-general of the federation, which drew the attention of the legislature to the financial discrepancy.

Tje CBN has been asked to provide account statements of all foreign reserve accounts in its disposal when the financial regulator makes itself available for the hearing.

Aside from Emefiele, the house of representatives also summoned other public officials including Minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, and minister of communication and digital economy, Isa Pantami.

Also on the summoned list are minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, as well as permanent secretaries and directors of finance for Fashola and Aregbesola.

The public officers had previously failed to appear before the lawmakers in previous invites, according to chairman of the committee, Oluwole Oke, on Tuesday, hence the recent summon.