REPS PROBE: ALLEGED ILLEGALLY ESTABLISHED AGENCY ACCOUNTS OPENED ON OAGF DIRECTIVE HAVE ZERO BALANCE — CBN
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By Sefiu Ajape
The Central Bank of Nigeria has told the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged establishment of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council without a valid legal framework that it only opens accounts for federal government agencies upon receiving authorisation from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
A Director at the CBN, Hamisu Abdullahi, who represented the Governor of the Central Bank before the committee on Monday, said the apex bank has no direct dealings with Ministries, Departments and Agencies on account opening, closure, or changes to account details except through the OAGF.
“As a banker to the Federal Government, the Central Bank has responsibility for opening all accounts for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, with the exception of those exempted from the Treasury Single Account,” he said.
He added, “We do not have any direct engagement with any ministry, department, or agency for account opening, account closure, or change of account nomenclature except through the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.”
Abdullahi disclosed that the CBN received a mandate from the OAGF dated July 29, 2025, directing it to open two domiciliary accounts for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council.
According to him, the accounts—a United States dollar domiciliary account and a Pound Sterling domiciliary account—were opened on July 30, 2025.
However, he told lawmakers that the accounts have remained dormant because the council failed to submit the authorised signatories required for their operation.
“Those two accounts remain inactive with zero balance and have never been operated,” he stated.
The CBN director further said there had been no financial activity on the accounts since they were opened.
“There have been no foreign exchange allocations, no remittances, no inflows, and no outflows. The accounts have maintained zero balance from inception to date,” he said.
He also told the committee that the council never communicated directly with the CBN over the operation of the accounts.
“The council had no direct correspondence with the Central Bank of Nigeria regarding the operation of the accounts,” he added.
Earlier, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, told the committee that the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has no constitutional responsibility for establishing government agencies.
She explained that while the office approves the administrative structures of federal government agencies, the establishment of such bodies falls outside its mandate.
“The approval and establishment of agencies is not within the purview of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. However, the OHCSF is responsible for approving the administrative structure of federal government agencies,” she said.
Walson-Jack disclosed that the council requested approval of its organisational structure on August 6, 2025, but the request was declined because the required documentation was not submitted.
She, however, said that during the 2025 annual manpower budget defence exercise, officials of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council sought an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver.
According to her, the council informed the office that 14 officers, including the Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, were already working with the body and requested approval to commence full operations.
She said the request was processed alongside those of 87 other MDAs and was eventually approved as part of the fourth batch of manpower approvals.
The approval covered 314 positions, comprising the existing 14 personnel and 300 additional positions.
However, Walson-Jack said the office later identified irregularities in the documents presented by the council as its enabling legal instrument.
“It was observed that the document presented by the council as its enabling law or legal instrument did not really carry the requisite features,” she told lawmakers.
She also denied claims that the OHCSF deployed civil servants to the council or allocated office accommodation to it.
“We wish to state that there was no deployment of staff by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to the council,” she said.
She added that reports linking the office to the allocation of accommodation at the Federal Secretariat Phase III were incorrect.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the committee, Hon. Abdulmalik Danga, directed the CBN to submit comprehensive records of all financial transactions relating to both the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council and the Presidential Economic Advisory Council.
“We want details of account activities relating to the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council as well as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. From the opening of the accounts to their last status, this committee wants the complete records,” Danga said.
The committee also directed the CBN to obtain details of any related accounts operated in commercial banks and submit the records as part of its investigation into the alleged establishment and operations of the council without a valid legal framework.
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