Reps seek FRC’s position on CBN audited accounts, Obazee’s concerns - The Guardian Nigeria News

House of Representatives Committee on Delegated Legislation has formally requested the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) to provide its review of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) 2025 audited accounts, as well as its position on concerns raised by President Bola Tinubu’s special investigator, Jim Obazee.

The committee’s request, detailed in a letter signed by its Chairman, Olufemi Richard Bamisile, asks the FRC to submit the full CBN 2025 audited accounts it reviewed, the council’s own review of those accounts, and its official response to the issues highlighted by Obazee. The deadline for compliance is October 6, 2025.

As the apex regulator for financial reporting in Nigeria, the FRC is mandated, under the FRC Act 2011, to supervise and scrutinise the financial statements of both public and private sector organisations, including the CBN.

“In view of your role as the supreme regulator in the country, as enshrined in sections 7(2a), 8(1a, b, d, e, f, g, h, and n), and 59 of the FRC Act 2011, empowering you to supervise the CBN and scrutinise the apex bank’s accounts and those of others, our committee is requesting you to provide us with copies of the audited accounts, the approvals given to the government banker on the audited accounts, and your views on the remarks by Mr. Obazee,” the letter stated.

Bamisile noted that the committee is concerned by the ongoing controversies and widespread media reports regarding the CBN’s 2024 and 2025 audited financials, following Obazee’s claim that both the National Assembly and President Tinubu were misled by the apex bank’s documentation.

He added that the alleged irregularities, which the FRC is expected to have reviewed, raise doubts about the Council’s competence as a regulator.

“The news report, credited to the speech by Mr Obazee and distributed at your event, revealed several alleged irregularities in the CBN’s audited financials. These touch on the integrity of the document, the bank, and its board, and cast doubt on whether these audited accounts can be relied upon for policy decisions,” he wrote.

Bamisile further stressed that if the issues outlined by the Special Investigator are accurate, they call into question the FRC’s role as the nation’s financial statement regulator and could undermine the credibility of financial statements across both public and private sectors.

He emphasised that, given Mr Obazee’s reputation in the financial services sector and the accounting profession, his governance concerns—especially regarding an institution as critical as the CBN—must be thoroughly examined.

“The CBN is the government’s banker, the supervisor of the country’s banking industry, and the formulator of Nigeria’s macroeconomic policies. We are concerned that neither the bank’s board nor the FRC, which reviewed and approved the audited accounts, has issued any rebuttal or public statement addressing Mr Obazee’s concerns since September 1,” Bamisile concluded.