Reps Summon Taiwo Oyedele, Accountant General Over N75bn UBEC Debt

The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Babatunde Ogunjimi, over the reported borrowing of N75 billion from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

The 2 officials are expected to appear before the House Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, October 22, 2026, to explain how the funds will be refunded.

The decision was taken during a committee hearing in Abuja on Friday, following concerns raised by lawmakers over the withdrawal of funds belonging to government agencies to meet other financial obligations without clear repayment arrangements.

The committee, chaired by its Deputy Chairman, Jeremiah Umaru, maintained that funds allocated to one government agency should not be diverted to other purposes without clearly defined terms and conditions.

Umaru said the committee was seeking a firm commitment on when the N75 billion would be repaid, stressing that explanations alone would not be sufficient to resolve the matter.

“For each borrowing, there should be terms and conditions attached. We want to know what your plan is.

“You borrowed money for certain reasons, but you should be willing to return it within a specific period, even without interest, since it is government-to-government.

“The main issue we are looking at is N75bn. We need the Accountant-General to appear in person, and we want the Honourable Minister to appear in person too so that we can get a timeline.

“We want to agree on when this money will be paid so that we can close this matter once and for all,” the committee said.

The lawmakers are expected to seek clarification from the 2 officials on the circumstances surrounding the borrowing and establish a definite repayment timeline for the funds owed to UBEC.