2021 budget: Reps to compel MDAs to remit 80% operating surplus to Consolidated Revenue Account

The leadership of House of Representatives at the weekend unveiled plans to amend relevant sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 with the view to compelling all revenue-generating agencies to remit 80 per cent internally generated revenue (IGR) into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

Section 22(1 & 2) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 on the ‘Operating surplus and general reserve fund’, provides that: “Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law governing the corporation, each corporation shall establish a general reserve fund and shall allocate thereto at the end of each financial year, one-fifth of its operating surplus for the year.

“The balance of the operating surplus shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government not later than one month following the statutory deadline for publishing each corporation’s accounts.”

The Deputy National Team Leader, Engaged Citizens – DFID Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), Mr John Mutu, disclosed this in Abuja while giving a synopsis of the ‘Updated Legislative Agenda’ of the 9th House of Representatives, also reiterated the House plans to strengthen the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF) for effective service delivery by the provision of adequate funding on yearly basis.

He also assured Nigerians of the House resolve to provide adequate funding for the provision of physical infrastructure and 12 Teaching Hospitals across the country in the 2021 budget.

Mr Mutu who called for a paradigm shift in the work-plan of the Legislature underscored the need for the Legislature to take the front-row seat in piloting the affairs of the State as well as the implementation of policies and programmes for the good of the citizens.

“The first one is the prioritized actions that the House should be looking at. There’s so much to do and what are the specific things that the House will be championing between now and May 2021?

“Remember this is going to be our performance checklist, it’s going to be a dashboard parameter that we will be using to measure the performance of committees. Have you been able to deliver on our agenda, each committee will be given its own stewardship based on this agenda.

“For instance, under healthcare, we’ve come to see, COVID has come to show that there is a dearth of infrastructure in the health sector. COVID has also come to show that there’s a lot we need to do in healthcare delivery.

“What should the Parliament do to ensure that going forward Nigerians enjoy the dividends of democracy. So one of those things that we proposed is that as a House we will work with the Executive to ensure that there is increased funding in the 2021 budget to healthcare delivery.

“And this will be used to fund critical health infrastructure,” Mr Mutu assured.

While tasking various House Standing Committees to adopt the updated Legislative Agenda, he harped on the need for the House to work with the Executive arm of government in delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians.

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Mr Mutu who cited the SGF’s admonition that ‘the challenges are numerous and the solutions lie with you’, noted that the “legislature has an active role, not a back-seat role”, in solving the daunting challenges facing the country.

“Not a reactional role and the Executive recognized that Nigerians recognized that, there is so much expectation from you and by the grace of God with the type of leadership you have and the commitment you have also demonstrated, we know that you will live up to expectation.

“What we are proposing through this legislative agenda is for us to move from that passive past question from what did you, to start asking what can or should we do because it’s a joint task, ‘Nation-building: a joint task’. Not for you to wait like the policeman that hides by the traffic for you to break the law and you come out to arrest.

“What can we, or what should we do? The second question is ‘how can or how should we do it? And the last one is why should we do it this way. What I’m trying to say is the legislature should take the front row seat, you are the first among equal.

“As a committee chairman, you have a responsibility to help MDAs to address their challenges. You have a responsibility to set agenda for the Executive to deliver on, rather than waiting for them to take the driving seat and you now called them. You now call them the crime or the issue has already been done the way they know how to do it.

“So what we are proposing with this agenda which Mr Speaker has already challenged us on is that let the legislature take its front-row seat.

“So a committee is given an assignment to you to oversee, a sector is given to you to oversee if that sector fails you also have failed. So let’s not wait for it to fail, before we now start asking questing, let’s provide them with the leadership,” he emphasised.

Mr Mutu who stressed the need to put necessary measures in place towards measuring the achievements recorded or otherwise by the 9th Assembly said: “What I will speak to is the immediate actions and because it’s important for you to monitor progress as you deliver we have also embedded that into our legislative framework.

“I remember the legislative agenda started from the 7th Assembly under Rt. Hon. Tambuwal leadership, we had the 7th Assembly, we had the 8th Assembly and now the 9th Assembly.

“But can we specifically say or measure to what extent was the 7th Assembly able to deliver on its legislative agenda for those of you who were able to be here since that time?

“To what extent was the 8th Assembly been able to deliver on its legislative agenda? And in an attempt to cure that malady to be able to tell Nigerians that during our time in the 9th Assembly we said we are going to deliver on 10 items, at the end of the day we are able to deliver on 8, 9 or 10.

“And you can be proud I was part of that journey. What you don’t measure, you can’t tell. You can have an agenda that is not measurable, it is always difficult to tell the story, so this is an attempt to tell that story; and also to enable us to on a month by month basis, on a quarterly and annual basis enables us to track progress and be able to tell our people,” Mr Mutu noted.

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