The Senate ad-hoc committee probing misuse and under-remittance of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has uncovered over N1.695 trillion unremitted to the federation account by Federal Government agencies.
The nine-member committee headed by Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola, in its interim report submitted to the Senate on October 19, 2017 said 26 agencies generated a total of N21, 909,831,657,897 between January 2012 and December last year but lamented that a total of N1.695,585,887,406 was not remitted to Federal Government account by the agencies within the period.
The panel blamed it on a memo by a former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who allegedly issued the memo to the agencies to remit 25 per cent of revenue they generated to the Federal Government and spend 75 per cent on their expenditures.
The report read in part, “Most of the revenue generating agencies deny the Auditor General of the Federation access to their financial books and records, which is in conflict with Section 125, Subsection (3) a (i and ii); and Subsection (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Consequently, the committee recommends as follows: that the Senate should amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident auditors to be posted by the Auditor General of the Federation that will have access to all financial records and books, and to ensure compliance with Section 120(i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act should be amended in a way to compel all agencies and institutions of government on compliance with financial regulations regarding income generation, accounting and remittances.
“The Senate should also amend the laws where necessary to make it mandatory for all revenue generating agencies to accommodate resident treasury officers to be posted by the Accountant General of the Federation that will have access to all financial records and books.”
It said that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) operated a deficit account of N3,115,495,257,000,000 within the period under review.
A total of 93 agencies came under the searchlight of the committee.
All the federal universities, federal colleges of education, federal cooperative and agricultural colleges, federal science and technical colleges, federal government colleges and others were also scrutinised.
For instance, the committee observed that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) generated N15,541,690,052,000,000 within the period and recorded a deficit of N-3,115,495,257,000,000.
The implication of the figure for the NNPC is that it operated at a loss within the period under review.
The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) recorded N56,817,976,306.00 as generated revenue within the period while its total under remittance stood at N5,567,831,176.00.
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) generate N56,319,706,498.83 but posted N2,907,940,808.00 under remittance.
The Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) generated N479,115,404,000.00 and recorded under remittance of N70,485,698,800.00; the Sugar Development Corporation of Nigeria generated N16,258,122,423.14 and recorded under remittance of N5,595,130,103.10; Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) generated N30,229,951,000.00 but its under remittance was not stated.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated N335,855,575, 759.53 within the period under review and recorded under remittance of N83, 963,893,939.88.
It also said 25 per cent revenue of the NCS was not reported.
The committee said the Nigeria Electricity Commission generated N25,422,019,784.70 and had under remittance of N20,319,552,361.75.
Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority generated N4,663,198,042.93 and had under remittance of -827,489,066,.14
The committee explained that 25 per cent revenue paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund while the remaining expenses were over bloated.
The Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) generated N227, 301, 592,242.00 and under remitted N19,242,300,027.30
Thee Nigeria Shipper Council made N25,405,401,068.82 but failed to remit N69, 322,017,22
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) generated N445,544,388,514.54 and under remitted N33,833,232,873.33.
The Nigeria Teachers Institute generated N13,163,057,006.78 and failed to remit N984,013,375,39 while the Federal Radio Commission of Nigeria generated N6,954,353,171.59 and recorded under remittance of N1,211,179,042.40.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) generated N11,560,619,050.20, remitted N1,965,574,296.76 and failed to remit N1,778,116,748.16.
The committee said PPPRA partially paid 25 per cent of its revenue while it over bloated the remaining expenses.
The Committee said the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) generated N301,160,118,548.47 and under remitted N184,489.203,618.25.
It said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) generate nil revenue(2012-2014), made a total expenditure of N680,918,000, remitted nothing while its under remittance was put at N6,144,,734,400.00.
The committee said the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) generated N217,104,325,000.00 and under remiited N47,373,814,269.18.
The committee also said the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) generated N789,029,440,000.00 and under remitted N86,636,886,800.00
It said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) generated N49,157,057,019.00 and under remitted N636,095,144.18
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was said to have generated N3,098,157,000,000.00 but under remitted N13,716,755,284.00.
The Nigeria Bulk Electricity Company generated N1,320,039,182.02 and recorded under remittance of N644,045,677.73.
The report is slated for consideration this week.
Dr. Okonjo-iweala is a respected figure in the finance scene, she is not capable of supporting corruption.
We should also consider that the authority of the President supersedes hers and she is not totally at fault.
There are two-sides to a story. Although the Senate ad-hoc committee indicted her, it doesn’t automatically mean she is guilty. We still need to wait for her testimony and the outcome of the findings.
There are so many pockets of cases of corruption under the past administration and I believe the Buhari administration would do it best to find out the underlying facts of these cases.
There are so many pockets of cases of corruption under the past administration and I believe the Buhari administration would do it best to find out the underlying facts of these cases
Let hear her side of the story before we start judging her
They should allow this woman to rest now, Haba, after all, she is not the first person that would loot government of their money
We are humans and Nigerians at that, E fit be anybody ooh
Shebi, it is this same woman that established each states monthly financial allocation from the federal government