The Senate has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give a detailed account of the alleged non-remittance of N1.44 trillion operating surplus to the Federation Account.
The request was made by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator Adetokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), during an interface with the apex bank on its 2025 economic performance and projections for 2026.
Abiru said the clarification was necessary to strengthen public confidence in the nation’s monetary authorities and ensure full compliance with financial regulations. He stressed that the Auditor-General’s query on the unremitted surplus required a “clear, comprehensive and unambiguous” response from the CBN.
While commending the apex bank for Nigeria’s improving economic indicators, the senator urged its leadership to sustain ongoing reforms to guarantee a more stable economic environment in 2026.
He acknowledged recent gains in stabilising the foreign exchange market, reducing inflationary pressures and improving the country’s international credit ratings.
“These positive indicators have not gone unnoticed globally,” he said.
“The favourable assessments from Fitch Ratings and S&P Global underline renewed investor confidence, policy credibility and macroeconomic progress.”
In his presentation, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso highlighted what he described as a renewed phase of macroeconomic stability, driven by bold monetary reforms implemented since mid-2025.
Cardoso reported that Nigeria’s real GDP grew by 3.98 per cent in the third quarter of 2025 — an improvement from the 3.86 per cent recorded in Q3 2024, though slightly below the growth posted in the previous quarter.
He identified crop production, information and communications technology, real estate, and financial services as major contributors to the growth momentum.
According to him, headline inflation declined for the seventh consecutive month, falling to 16.05 per cent in October 2025 from a peak of 34.6 per cent in November 2024. Food inflation — the most significant component of the consumer basket — dropped sharply to 13.12 per cent in October, from 21.87 per cent in August.
“This steady disinflation is restoring real purchasing power for households and businesses,”
Cardoso said.
“We remain committed to driving inflation down to single-digit territory over the medium term.”
He further disclosed that the foreign exchange market had undergone a significant transformation, with the once-wide gap between official and parallel market rates shrinking to less than two per cent — a dramatic improvement from the over 60 per cent disparity recorded a year earlier.
The Senate is expected to continue its review of the CBN’s submissions as part of broader efforts to strengthen accountability and transparency within Nigeria’s financial governance framework.
