The Senate on Tuesday demanded a full explanation from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the alleged failure to remit ₦1.44 trillion in operating surplus, as the apex bank declared that Nigeria’s economy had entered its most stable phase in over a decade.
The call came during the statutory briefing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator Tokunbo Abiru, who insisted that accountability remained central to public confidence in monetary governance.
Abiru said the query raised by the Auditor-General on the unremitted funds required a comprehensive and well-documented response. While commending the CBN for recent economic gains, he stressed that institutional transparency must accompany policy success.
He urged the bank to clarify the circumstances behind the query, outline corrective actions taken and disclose safeguards to prevent a repeat.
CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, who appeared before the committee, presented an extensive review of the economy, saying Nigeria was witnessing renewed macroeconomic stability across major indicators.
According to Cardoso, the improvements followed wide-ranging monetary reforms, foreign-exchange liberalisation and disciplined liquidity management introduced since mid-2025.
He disclosed that headline inflation had fallen for seven consecutive months, dropping from 34.6 per cent in November 2024 to 16.05 per cent in October 2025 — the longest and steepest disinflation streak in more than ten years.
Food inflation, he added, also eased to 13.12 per cent due to better supply conditions and improved exchange-rate stability.
The CBN governor said the foreign-exchange market had undergone fundamental restructuring, with speculation and arbitrage largely eliminated. He noted that the gap between the official and parallel markets had narrowed to under two per cent, from over 60 per cent a year ago.
As of November 26, the naira traded at ₦1,442.92 per dollar at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, stronger than the ₦1,551 average recorded in the first half of 2025.
Cardoso also announced that Nigeria’s external reserves had climbed to $46.7 billion, the highest level in nearly seven years, providing import cover for more than ten months.
He said diaspora remittances had tripled to about $600 million monthly, while foreign capital inflows rose to $20.98 billion in the first ten months of 2025 — a 70 per cent increase over 2024 and more than four times the 2023 figure.
The CBN, he confirmed, had also cleared the $7 billion verified foreign-exchange backlog, helping to restore investor confidence and strengthen the country’s balance-of-payments position.
On the banking sector, Cardoso reported steady progress in recapitalisation, with 27 banks already raising fresh capital and 16 meeting or exceeding new regulatory thresholds ahead of the March 31, 2026 deadline. He cited improvements in ATM cash availability, digital payments oversight and cybersecurity compliance.
Despite the positive outlook, the Senate raised concerns over several policy issues.
Abiru sought explanations on the sustained 45 per cent Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), the 75 per cent CRR on non-Treasury Single Account public-sector deposits, FX forward settlements, circulation of mutilated naira notes, excessive bank charges and persistent failed electronic transactions.
He also questioned the compliance of CBN subsidiaries with parliamentary oversight and requested an update on the Financial Services Regulatory Coordinating Committee, stressing that stronger inter-agency collaboration was vital to sustaining public trust.
The session later moved into a closed-door meeting.
