FEC orders probe of ex-heads of JAMB, NIMASA over poor remittances

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has ordered the probe of past heads of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), over poor remittances in the past.

The council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday frowned at the poor returns during the past administrations.

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who briefed council on the performances of some government agencies, revealed that JAMB for the first time remitted N5 billion to the coffers of the government with a balance of N3 billion still to be remitted compared to maximum N3 million per annum remitted in the past.

According to her, the disparity in the remittances of the two agencies in the past and now necessitated the decision to probe all previous heads of the two agencies.

She said other agencies with similar discrepancies in their revenue remittances will be probed.

She said: “Council discussed JAMB which recorded significant progress and NIMASA as well as others and gave us the charge to really go and look at these agencies, look in some cases the past management of those agencies and see where those agencies were leaking and to encourage agencies that haven’t done so to continue with efficiencies.

“So, in summary the outlook is positive. We did some comparative analysis in June 2014 with oil price of $109 federation allocations was N844 billion and in June 2017 it was down to N318 billion, just to give you an idea  of how much income the country has really lost in the last few years.

“So, we are adjusting very strongly and we believe if we continue with this trajectory not only will we stay permanently out of recession but more importantly we will have a positive and growing economy what works for all Nigerians which is our aim.”

She said FEC also approved for Nigeria to re-join the African Trade Insurance Agency.

Adeosun explained that the agency was out to provide risk guarantee for private investors coming into Nigeria as well as exporters from Nigeria.

She added: “It will provide risk guarantees. So, instead of projects asking for sovereign guarantees, we will be able to provide that risk mitigation through the African Trade Insurance Agency.

“Many other countries are already members so Nigeria will be also joining.

“This agency has an A rating international and is able to guarantee long term projects.

“So, what we see as a result of this is that there will be increased level of investments particularly PPP where every often the investors want some guarantee from the government. Instead of the government issuing sovereign guarantee directly, this agency will step in and issue it. It is very similar to MIGA which Multi-lateral Insurance Guarantee Agency that is owned by the IFC.”

She also spoke on her briefing to FEC in the fiscal conditions and outlook of the economy, saying that government was on the path of resetting the economy and adjusting permanently to a sort of lower oil pricing.

She stayed: “The recent announcement of the exit from recession we see as statistically backed indicator that we are moving in the right direction.

“We recognized that there is a lot to be done. I briefed the council on various fiscal initiatives that we are pursuing.

“These include continued fiscal consolidation and cost efficiency, driving cost savings in government there is still a great need to do so.

“I have some progress report on the work we have done with payroll where we are still seeing contraction. Every time we put agencies into our automated payroll system we see contraction and we intend to continue with that.

“Secondly, we spoke about revenue generation, the VIDE Programme is on-going and we are having quite a positive response in terms of tax compliance.

“We also reported on the progress made by a number of our agencies some of whom have reported very significant increases in the amount paid into the consolidated revenue fund.”