The federal government received revenue amounting to N34.311 trillion to the federation account between 2015 and 2022, through payment gateway, Remita.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, of Remita, ‘Deremi Atanda, made this known when he appeared before the House of Representatives Public Account Committee (PAC) in Abuja.
Giving a breakdown, he revealed that in 2015, N1.5 trillion was remitted via the platform, followed by N2.8 trillion in 2016; N3.7 trillion in 2017; N4.6 trillion in 2018; N4.6 trillion in 2019; N4.2 trillion in 2020 during the COVID-19 year; N6 trillion in 2021; and N6.8 trillion in the 2022 fiscal year.
Atanda dismissed insinuations that REMITA imposed additional fees beyond the approved N150 (equivalent to 10% at the current exchange rate) on revenue-generating MDAs.
He clarified that rather, the REMITA payment gateway platform offers additional technology services to the federation at no extra cost, despite paying in foreign exchange for hosting the platform on a cloud-based platform, adding that the company was enlisted by the CBN as a measure to bolster the federation’s revenue.
Atanda further noted that appropriate agreements were executed, and standard operating procedures adhered to, and that both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation have full access to the platform.
He added that all revenue collected by the 1,137 MDAs using the REMITA platform are instantly available to them, with the apex bank accessing these funds on a daily basis.