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Senate probes CBN, FIRS, Customs, others over revenue leakages

Senator Solomon Adeola
Leke Baiyewu, Abuja
The Senate on Tuesday began a probe into alleged “misuse, under remittance, non-remittance and other fraudulent practices” in the collection, accounting, remittance and expenditure of internally generated revenue by all
revenue generating agencies of the Federal Government.
It therefore constituted a “high-powered” six-man ad hoc committee to investigate the leakages in revenue generation, remittance and expenditure from 2012 to 2016.
Agencies to be investigated include the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Ports Authority, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, National Airspace Management Agency, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Television Authority, National Broadcasting Corporation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and all other revenue generating agencies listed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.
The lawmakers took the decision based on a motion moved by Senator Solomon Adeola (Lagos West), titled, ‘Urgent Need to Investigate Revenue Generating Agencies over Alleged Leakages, Non-Remittance and Misuse of Generated Revenue.”
The motion was supported by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; the Deputy Majority Leader, Bala Ibn Na’Allah; the Chief Whip, Sola Adeyeye; and Ahmed Lawan.
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who presided over the plenary, named Olamilekan as the chairman of the probe panel, while senators Andy Uba, Fatima Raji-Rasaki, John Enoh, Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf and Yahaya Abdullahi would serve as members.
Saraki said, “As I keep on hammering, independent revenue and non-oil revenue are very important areas of our budget. This independent revenue is 37 per cent (of the total revenue). You remember that last year it was almost N1.5tn and I am being told now that this year is likely to come down to N500bn because they could not meet their target.
“The inability to meet the target is not that they do not have the capacity to meet the target; the problem is that there is too much abuse on these operating surpluses, where people spend up to the last naira in all. I think the best way forward is for us to address this issue by blocking these leakages. And I believe that in constituting the ad hoc committee, we would just take the best hands and still bring people from the Finance and Public Accounts Committees.”
Olamilekan, while moving the motion, noted that Section 80, subsections 1 to 4 of the 1999 Constitution clearly stipulated that all revenues and money raised or received “shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.”
He added that the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 was enacted to ensure transparency, accountability and prevent corrupt practices in relation to public revenues and expenditure.
Olamilekan noted that Sections 21 to 23 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 clearly limited corporations, agencies and government-owned companies to expenditure of only a fifth of their operating surplus, with the balance paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.”
Olamilekan said, “The Senate is concerned that the acting Chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Mr. Victor Muruako, on November 8, 2016, raised the alarm over leakages in revenue and remittances, which he said had assumed an alarming proportion in the last five years, with some MDAs producing two different statements of account in an attempt to manipulate their operating surpluses and losses.
“The Senate is further aware that at the last National Economic Council meeting, the Federal Government specifically accused  revenue generating agencies of raising over N1.5tn and expending over 90 per cent on recurrent expenditure, mostly in paying bloated salaries and controversial allowances above the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Committee’s recommendations, monetisation of medical allowances, unapproved overseas travels, lavish training allowances and excessive personal loan approval, all amounting to financial misconducts.”

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