Business
AGF warns that Nigeria may reject delayed World Bank loans
Nigeria’s Accountant General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has warned that the country may decline future World Bank loan arrangements if delays in approvals and disbursements continue.
Mr Ogunjimi stated this in Abuja during a meeting with a World Bank delegation led by Treed Lane, according to a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa.
The accountant general expressed concern over what he described as lengthy bureaucratic processes surrounding development financing, stressing that delayed approvals could affect project implementation and fiscal planning.
“If approvals take more than six months, the Nigerian Government may no longer honour such arrangements,” he said.
He noted that Nigeria expects faster processing of funding requests because the facilities are repayable loans rather than grants.
According to him, prolonged delays in accessing approved funds could undermine the effectiveness of projects tied to the financing arrangements.
Mr Ogunjimi urged the World Bank to accelerate approval and disbursement procedures to support the country’s development priorities.
Audit reports, financial reforms
The accountant-general said his office had begun addressing concerns earlier raised by the World Bank regarding public financial management and audit reporting.
He disclosed that the 2023 Audit Report would be submitted to the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation within two weeks, while work on the 2024 and 2025 reports is ongoing.
Mr Ogunjimi added that the government is taking steps to modernise the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) by replacing obsolete infrastructure with updated technology.
According to him, the reforms are aimed at strengthening transparency, accountability and efficiency in Nigeria’s public finance system.
World Bank response
Speaking during the visit, Mrs Lane congratulated Mr Ogunjimi on his recent appointment as African Chairman of the Association of Accountants-General.
She also encouraged the Office of the Accountant-General to sustain ongoing digitalisation reforms and ensure the timely submission of financial statements to the Auditor-General.
The development comes amid growing scrutiny of Nigeria’s rising debt exposure to the World Bank and concerns over delays in loan disbursements.
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The World Bank explained that its loans are not released in lump sums but are tied to specific milestones and implementation conditions, depending on the financing structure of each project.
The global lender also noted that disbursement timelines vary across projects and are linked to agreed performance benchmarks between Nigeria and the bank.
BY JAMES OBIOMA—The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has officially cleared the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) of a N62.2 billion under-remittance allegation originally raised by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in its 2019 audit report.
The clearance followed an investigative session on Tuesday, 16 June 2026, during which the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, successfully defended the Service by proving that the alleged shortfall was a misclassification of revenue by auditors.
The original query, read by a representative of the Auditor-General under the direction of SPAC Chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, had alleged that out of N691.242 billion generated by Customs in 2017, only N629.23 billion reached the Federation Account, leaving a balance of N62.2 billion.
Defending the Service’s financial integrity, CG Adeniyi explained that the multi-billion naira deficit was completely non-existent.
“The under-remittance of N62.2 billion levelled against Customs in the 2019 audit report was wrongly arrived at through misclassification of levies collected,” Adeniyi stated. “While most of the levies are to be collected and remitted into the federation account, others like the ones on local production of wheat, textiles and wines, etc do not go into the federation account, the totality of which accounted for the alleged unremitted N62.2 billion.”
Following identical, convincing clarifications on the first three major queries, a member of the committee, Senator Babangida Hussaini, wondered why the issues had not been ironed out sooner. He noted that as a former civil servant, such straightforward technicalities should have been resolved at the preliminary audit level rather than escalating to a full Senate investigation.
The post Senate Clears Customs of ₦62.2BN Under-remittance Allegation appeared first on Business Today NG.
Polaris Bank Limited has debunked reports claiming that over 34 persons died in a fire incident at its Broad Street branch in Lagos, describing the claims as false and misleading.
The bank issued the disclaimer in a post on X on Thursday, insisting that there were no casualties or fatalities in the fire incident.
A fire broke out on Thursday afternoon at a multi-storey building housing a Polaris Bank branch on Broad Street, Lagos Island.
The bank said the fire incident, which originated from a customer’s vehicle parked on the third-floor car park, was contained following the activation of its emergency response procedures and the prompt intervention of firefighters.
“A fire incident occurred today at the car park of our Broad Street Branch, Lagos, originating from a customer’s vehicle parked on the 3rd-floor car park.
“The fire was swiftly contained following the activation of our emergency response procedures and the prompt intervention of firefighters,” the bank stated.
READ ALSO: CBN, Polaris Bank refute liquidation rumors
Polaris Bank said it has commenced investigations to determine the cause of the fire incident, noting that reports claiming that over 34 persons were feared dead are false and misleading.
“We confirm that there were no casualties or fatalities. Reports claiming that over 34 persons were feared dead are false and misleading.
“Investigations into the incident are ongoing. We thank emergency responders, our staff, customers, and stakeholders for their support,” the bank said.
Polaris Bank urged the public to rely only on credible news platforms and its official channels for accurate information and to disregard false reports circulating online.
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