The House of Representatives has opened an investigation into the exercise of delegated legislative powers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with lawmakers seeking to establish whether financial obligations, charges, penalties and expenditures arising from the apex bank’s regulations and other subsidiary instruments have adequate statutory backing.
The investigation, launched by the House Committee on Delegated Legislation, comes amid wider concerns over the transparency of the CBN’s financial reporting and questions recently raised about its 2024 and 2025 audited accounts.
The committee, chaired by Hon. Richard Olufemi Bamisile, unanimously resolved to scrutinise the CBN’s regulations, rules, guidelines, circulars, directives and other subsidiary legislative instruments following a motion sponsored by Hon. Baraje Yusuf Kure, representing Bosso/Paikoro Federal Constituency of Niger State.
Kure acknowledged that the CBN is empowered under its enabling legislation to issue regulations, rules, guidelines and circulars necessary for the discharge of its statutory responsibilities.
However, he argued that such delegated powers must remain within the limits established by the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and relevant Acts of the National Assembly.
At the centre of the investigation is the financial impact of these instruments.
The committee wants to determine whether fees, charges, penalties, expenditures and other monetary obligations imposed, collected, authorised or incurred pursuant to CBN subsidiary legislation are supported by the appropriate statutory and regulatory provisions.
The inquiry could therefore place a spotlight on the relationship between the CBN's regulatory decisions and the financial consequences for banks, financial institutions, businesses and other market participants.
The CBN already issues a range of regulations and guidelines containing fees, sanctions and penalties as part of its regulatory framework. For example, its guidelines on dud cheques provide for sanctions and penalties for specified violations. The existence of such provisions, however, does not by itself establish whether any particular measure is within or outside the bank's legal authority.
The legislative inquiry is also taking place against the backdrop of questions surrounding the CBN's financial statements for 2024 and 2025.
The committee has directed the CBN to provide its summary and full consolidated financial statements for the two years, together with the financial reporting manual approved by the board and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and used in preparing the accounts.
The FRC has also been asked to submit its approvals relating to the CBN's audited consolidated and separate financial statements for 2024 and 2025, as well as the financial reporting manual issued to the apex bank.
External auditors KPMG and Ernst & Young are expected to provide copies of the CBN's audited accounts for the two years, directors' reports and the frameworks approved by CBN executive management for preparing the financial statements.
The committee has also requested evidence from Jim Obazee relating to concerns he previously raised about the CBN's financial statements.
Obazee has publicly questioned aspects of the CBN's 2024 and 2025 financial reporting, including the publication of summary statements and the accounting treatment of certain items. Those remain allegations and concerns raised by Obazee and are now among the issues the lawmakers want to examine through documentary evidence.
CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, relevant officials and members of the bank's board are expected to appear before the committee and provide the requested regulations, guidelines, circulars, approvals, financial records and implementation reports.
Other stakeholders expected to participate include the FRC, KPMG, Ernst & Young, economist Bismarck Rewane, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).
The committee has fixed **October 6, 2026** as the deadline for submission of the requested documents.
According to the lawmakers, the investigation will also consider matters that fall outside the committee's mandate and refer such issues to the appropriate House committee or competent authority.
From a financial-sector perspective, the inquiry could provide a closer examination of how the CBN's regulatory powers translate into financial obligations across the banking and payments ecosystem.
It could also clarify the legal basis for specific charges, penalties and other monetary requirements contained in CBN regulatory instruments, while examining whether the accounting treatment of related transactions is consistent with the applicable reporting framework.
Deputy Chairman of the committee, Hon. Dominic Okafor, said concerns over the CBN's financial disclosures could have wider implications for confidence in Nigeria's economic and financial institutions if they were substantiated.
He pointed to the importance of reliable financial information for monetary policy, fiscal management, banking supervision, investment decisions and the assessment of institutional risk.
However, the committee's investigation has not established that the CBN acted unlawfully or that financial irregularities occurred. Its immediate task is to obtain the underlying documents and determine whether the regulatory instruments and financial practices under examination complied with the relevant laws and reporting requirements.
The outcome of the probe will therefore depend substantially on the documents submitted by the CBN, FRC, external auditors and other stakeholders, as well as the committee's assessment of the statutory authority behind the measures under review.
The committee is expected to consider its findings and recommendations after completing the exercise and, where necessary, seek further directives from the House.
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