Reps probe: Fake agency accounts opened on OAGF directive have zero balance – CBN director

A Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Hamisu Abdullahi, informed a House of Representatives committee that the apex bank exclusively opens accounts for federal government agencies based on authorization from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF). The committee is investigating the alleged establishment of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council without a valid legal framework.

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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.

Abdullahi, representing the CBN Governor, explained that the CBN acts as the banker for the Federal Government and handles account openings for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), except those exempt from the Treasury Single Account (TSA). He stated that the CBN has no direct dealings with MDAs regarding account operations, closures, or modifications; all such actions must be channeled through the OAGF.

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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.

He disclosed that on July 29, 2025, the OAGF mandated the CBN to open two domiciliary accounts: one in U.S. dollars and another in Pound Sterling, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council. These accounts were opened the following day, July 30, 2025.

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Those two accounts remain inactive with zero balance and have never been operated.

However, Abdullahi emphasized that the accounts have remained inactive and hold a zero balance because the council never submitted the required authorized signatories for their operation. He confirmed there has been no financial activity, including foreign exchange allocations, remittances, inflows, or outflows, on these accounts since their inception. The council also had no direct correspondence with the CBN regarding the accounts' operation.

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There have been no foreign exchange allocations, no remittances, no inflows and no outflows. The accounts have maintained zero balance from inception to date.