The Joint House of Representatives Committee on Finance and Banking and Currency will commence an investigation on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 24 commercial and non-commercial banks and 14 international oil companies (IOCs) over an alleged loss of over $30 billion annually due to revenue leakages.
The investigation will be conducted by a joint committee, chaired by the joint committee headed by Abiodun James Faleke (APC, Lagos) and Victor Nwokolo (PDP, Delta).
It could be recalled that the House had passed a resolution on March 5, 2020 following the adoption of a motion by Faleke and mandated the two committees on Finance and the Committee on Banking and Currency to jointly carry out the investigation.
The committees were also directed to investigate the disbursement of foreign exchange by the CBN and other agencies to determine the exact amount government may have lost in the process.
Officials of the banks and the IOCs as well as local oil companies will appear before the committee for the investigative hearing, which commences on Monday.
It was learnt that the investigative hearing will be conducted in phases of which the first phase will last for three weeks with strict observance of COVID-19 protocols adopted by the House.
According to the joint committee, the banks and oil companies are to explain their roles in the alleged over $30bn revenue leakages arising from oil revenue interest payment on account of foreign currency dominated contracts by companies in engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and marine transportation.
