Fiscal Responsibility Commission Recovers N350bn From MDAs

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission has said it has recovered N350bn from Ministries, Department and Agencies of the Federal Government in the last six years.

The Acting Chairman of the FRC, Chief Victor Murako, disclosed this at a press conference to announce the convocation of the National Forum on Fiscal Responsibility in Abuja on Wednesday.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 compels the MDAs to pay 80 per cent of their operating surpluses to the treasury. The FRC implements the law and often summons the MDAs that contravene the provisions of the Act.

Murako also kicked against the Steve Orosanye Committee’s recommendation that the FRC should be scrapped and its functions absorbed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

He said, “The commission assessed and ensured the remittance of about N350bn operating surpluses by scheduled corporations to the Consolidated Revenue Fund between 2009 and 2014, while the government has only funded the commission to the tune of N3.6bn.

He added, “So, the argument that the commission should be scrapped in order to save cost cannot hold water. The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 is a veritable winning strategy to fight corruption. Corruption festers where there is idle fund to nibble at by unpatriotic public officials especially where the budgeting process is shoddy and shambolic.

“If the Orosanye report as it relates to the FRC could be seen as unwholesome, the subsequent white paper on the report sanctioning its recommendation can best be described as simply abhorrent.

“It betrays lack of deep introspection on the part of those who should know better. If the Orosanye committee can be excused for being out of sync with modern reformist trend in this globalised world, one expects a more sober intervention/reaction from the federal officialdom.”

He added that through its work, the FRC had succeeded in ensuring compliance by the Ministry of Finance with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework in the preparation of the budget, while also insisting that the budget elements matched those specified in the FRA 2007.