Fiscal commission to senate panel: We’ve remitted over N2trn to FG since 2007

Victor Muruako, chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), says since the inception of the agency in 2007, over N2 trillion has been remitted to the federal government.

Murako said this when he appeared before the senate committee on finance in Abuja on Tuesday.

The committee conducted a public hearing on a bill seeking to repeal and re-enact the fiscal responsibility law.

The chairman said the new law, if passed, will empower the commission to be able to raise more funds for the government.

“The generation of independent revenue through the remittance of operating surplus is one aspect of the mandate of the commission that has added great value to governance,” he said.

“It is noteworthy that the commission has since inception caused over 2 trillion naira to be remitted to the CRF in spite of the lapses in the present act.

“It is expected that the amendment bill will cause even more revenue to be remitted into the federal government coffers by the present 122 Schedule corporations (increased from 30 and still counting) as well as align the same with scant legislation like the finance act 2020.

“The need for a special and sustainable funding arrangement to enable it to deliver on its mandate is starkly evident.

“The proposal in the bill for the retention by the commission of a portion of the operating surpluses paid into the CRF of the federal government as cost of collection, if passed will go a long way in securing and enhancing the crucial financial autonomy necessary for the commission to meet the expectation of the nation.”

On his part, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, executive secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), said the move will make accountability easier in the extractive industry.

“There is no doubt whatsoever [we do at] attaining a culture of accountability in the larger economy will make it easier to achieve accountability in the extractive industry which generates the bulk of Nigeria’s economic resources,” Orji said.