Reps Demand CBN’s 2024, 2025 Accounts as Financial Reporting Comes Under Fresh Scrutiny

The House of Representatives has demanded the full financial statements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for 2024 and 2025 as part of a fresh legislative investigation into the apex bank’s exercise of delegated regulatory powers and related financial matters.

The House Committee on Delegated Legislation, chaired by Hon. Richard Olufemi Bamisile, directed the CBN to submit its summary and full consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2025, alongside the financial reporting manual used in preparing the accounts.

The committee also wants the CBN to provide the manual approved by its board and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), as well as domestic reports issued by the bank’s external auditors.

The demand forms part of a wider investigation initiated after lawmakers resolved to scrutinise the CBN’s regulations, guidelines, circulars and other subsidiary legislative instruments and determine their financial and regulatory implications.

The committee has extended its document request to the external auditors of the CBN.

KPMG and Ernst & Young (EY) have been directed to submit copies of the apex bank’s audited accounts for 2024 and 2025, together with the directors’ reports issued to the CBN.

They are also expected to provide the framework approved by CBN executive management and used in preparing the audited accounts for both years.

The Financial Reporting Council is similarly expected to provide copies of its approvals relating to the CBN’s audited consolidated and separate financial statements for the two years, as well as the financial reporting manual issued to the apex bank.

The committee has fixed **October 6, 2026** as the deadline for the submission of the requested documents.

The lawmakers have also asked Jim Obazee to submit all evidence and documents in his possession relating to concerns he previously raised about the CBN’s audited financial statements.

Obazee, who previously served as a special investigator into the CBN and other government business entities, has publicly questioned aspects of the apex bank’s 2024 and 2025 financial reporting.

Among his concerns was the publication of summary financial statements rather than the complete audited statements. He also questioned aspects of the accounting treatment and comparability of figures contained in the 2025 financial statements. These are claims made by Obazee and are now being subjected to legislative scrutiny.

The CBN’s 2024 financial statements were prepared using accounting policies derived from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the FRC’s revised accounting guideline for financial reporting by the CBN and relevant provisions of the CBN Act and FRC legislation.

The CBN also published its 2025 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts in July 2026, covering the bank’s operations and financial statements for the year.

The financial-statement request is only one component of the committee’s wider investigation.

The lawmakers are examining whether financial obligations, fees, charges, penalties and other monetary consequences arising from CBN regulations and other subsidiary legislative instruments have appropriate statutory and regulatory backing.

The committee is therefore expected to examine the connection between the CBN’s regulatory powers and the financial consequences of those regulations for banks, financial institutions and other participants in the financial system.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, relevant officials and members of the bank’s board are expected to appear before the committee and provide regulations, guidelines, circulars, approvals, financial records and implementation reports.

Other stakeholders expected to participate include the FRC, KPMG, EY, economist Bismarck Rewane, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).

For Nigeria’s financial markets, the investigation places renewed attention on the quality, transparency and consistency of financial information produced by the country’s central bank.

The CBN is a key institution in the financial system, with its financial reporting providing information relevant to government, financial institutions, investors, auditors and other economic stakeholders.

The committee’s review could therefore provide clarification on the accounting frameworks applied to the 2024 and 2025 accounts, the relationship between the CBN and its external auditors, and the role of the FRC in approving or guiding the financial reporting framework.

However, the legislative investigation has not established that the CBN’s accounts contain wrongdoing or that its regulatory actions were unlawful. The committee is seeking documents and evidence before reaching its findings.

The lawmakers said matters identified during the exercise that fall outside the committee’s mandate would be referred to the appropriate House committee or competent authority.

The committee is expected to consider the documents submitted by the CBN, FRC, auditors and other stakeholders before adopting its findings and recommendations and, where necessary, seeking further directives from the House.