Reps quiz FRSC over non-remittance of N.5bn revenue

The House of Representatives on Monday uncovered the sum of N500 million revenue shortfall from the financial records submitted by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in the 2021 fiscal year.

The lawmakers who spoke during the inadequacies/discrepancies observed in the financial records presented by key revenue generating agencies to the House Committee on Finance chaired by Hon. Abiodun James Faleke chided the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) for failing to adequately track revenue generated by agencies of government and for failure to keep adequate records of such revenue.

Meanwhile, authorities of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) have directed FRSC to ensure the remittance of 100 per cent of the revenue generated from the production of Vehicle Plate Numbers into the Federal Government’s coffer against the 80% operating surplus being remitted by the Commission.

Worried about the development, Hon. James Faleke directed the Director, of Federation Account, Mr Mohammed Saleh to provide up-to-date records of revenue remittances by the Federal Road Safety Commission.

Speaking earlier, FRSC Acting Corp Marshal, Mr Dauda Biu disclosed that the Commission remitted over N2 billion to the Federation Account in 2021.

Piqued by his submission, Hon. Faleke after perusing the documents submitted by AGF, FRSC and Fiscal Responsibility Commission observed that the records of the Accountant General provided to the Committee showed that about N1.6 billion was remitted.

Hon. Faleke said: “honestly speaking, we are not happy with the accountant general’s office at all. Your data is what we thought we could rely on to do our job.

“The agencies are here, ready to make their presentation. I don’t have the records to compare with. You don’t have the records and you are telling me that receipts are issued to various offices across the country. It should be automated.

“Please, if you have issues, anything, let us know. We are here to help you, help ourselves as Nigerians.

“You heard the presentation from the Minister of Finance, N11.3 trillion deficit. So, if we are able to get our revenue from the agencies, the deficit will reduce.

“We have so many agencies that you ought to be taking the money automatically, online. We can’t continue with this being because the Accountant General is unable to provide us with requirements.”

He, therefore, directed the Accountant General to furnish the Committee with details of all remittances from the agencies by Tuesday to allow the committee to conclude its work, saying “we are not going to refer any agency for reconciliation of account.

“You issue them receipts which could be fake anyway. How can you still be writing treasury receipts by hand at this time and age? It is very disappointing. We have other work to do and we are supposed to finish the work before the presentation of the budget which is coming up in September or early October.

In his contribution, Hon. Sada Soli expressed concern over the attitude of the staff of the Office of the Accountant General, accusing them of always trying to frustrate the efforts of the National Assembly in tracking government revenue.

Hon. Soli said “the explanations that they continuously give to the parliament whenever we bring government agencies that generate revenue to run this country, they will come up saying they will go and reconcile.

“Mr Chairman, you and I know, we are on one committee with you. We talked to the Accountant General. No wonder he’s in trouble. You know. You are the chairman, he couldn’t sufficiently answer some of our interrogations.

“We have a country that is struggling with debts. Yet, we have some institutions with Professionals and well-educated people in the Accountant General office who are not able to track our revenue. It is in the same office that IPPIS is compromised. They must wake up.

The Director, Federations Accountant in the Accountant General’s office, Mohammed Saleh appealed to the Committee to give them time to provide all the details required, saying “we already have the details. Maybe you should give us some time to go back and make additional copies.

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