REVENUE: Buhari Charges Ministers Over MDAs Excesses

President Mohammadu Buhari has during the first Federal Executive Council in the year on Wednesday charged his ministers on the need to take proactive measures in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Acts (FRA) towards eliminating the monumental revenue leakages and inadequacies that had become a norm in the ministries, departments and agencies of the government by monitoring them closely.

Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Minister of Information, and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and his Finance counterpart, Mrs Kemi Adeosun stated that the top agenda of the meeting was the revenue generation and management of the government adding that it has discovered that revenues accruing to the government are never properly accounted for by the ministries, departments and agencies of government.

On the alleged withdrawal of the 2016 budget from the National Assembly, the ministers denied the reports that the Federal government has withdrawn the 2016 budget stating that amendments on budgets are conventional norms all over the world particularly when they are being defended.  

Mrs Adeosun also stated that another key issue discussed at the FEC meeting was the directive to the ministries to operate within its budget adding that henceforth, the government would no longer tolerate a situation where ministries operate without approved budgets. She added that circulars to that effect have been issued to them and accordingly, a total compliance is expected.

 “The principal discussion in our meeting today was the initiative by this administration to plug revenue leakages in our MDAs that generate revenue. The presentation to FEC was to remind ministers who supervise these reve­nue-generating boards of their responsibilities under the Fiscal Responsibility Act.”

 “We have discovered that many agencies have nev­er credited anything and never generated any operating surplus including some whose salaries, overheads, capital are paid by the Federal Government. In addition to that, they generate revenue which they spend without any form of control,” the minister said.

 “We also discussed that in some cases, because some agencies have a track record and history of making sure that every Naira they earned is spent, that we will go in and audit agencies under Section 107 (8) of the Financial Regulations.

On the issue of agencies generating revenue in foreign currency but remitting in local currency, the minister who frowned bitterly on the ugly development stated that the government had done a comprehensive audit of those that collect money in foreign currency and remit in Naira, and specifically identi­fied NIMASA, adding that efforts are on top gear towards discovering other culprits that are yet to be identified.

She explained that the requirement under the Act was that such monies should go to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which should exchange the money into Naira.