House Committee on Finance Commends FRC For Blocking Revenue Leakages

 

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Rt. Hon. Abiodun Faleke has given kudos to Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC for providing the data which helped the Committee to determine the unremitted operating surplus of Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) during the first phase of interactive session on 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).

 

He noted that Nigeria has no reason to borrow in order to finance deficit budget if only we do the right thing by blocking revenue leakages in the GOEs expenditure which over the years have made their management constituted themselves into “government within a government” because of their financial recklessness.

 

 Faleke assured Nigerians that his Committee is determined to sanction any government agency that refuses to present the MTEF and FSP from 2022-2024 as well as operating surplus remittance form 2018 till date saying that such agency would not be considered in the appropriation bill of 2022.

 

He frowned at flagrant disregard for extant laws that guide public finance pointing out that most of the GOEs laws and regulations are self-serving and against the national interest of Nigeria while promising to amend those laws to be in conformity with accountability and transparency.

 

The ranking lawmaker opined that Nigeria urgently needs meticulous budgeting process that is open and transparent which would ensure adequate funding of Federal government projects that would impact positively on the lives of Nigerians.

 

The Committee Chairman pointed out that his Committee with the partnership with Fiscal Responsibility Commission may have save billions of naira for the Federal government by ensuring that the GOEs remit operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund account during the interactive session.

 

The Committee will resume its final interactive session at the House of Representatives on September 17, 2021.