Revenue under-remittance: Reps fire warning shot at MDAs

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has warned revenue generating agencies of the federal government that under-remittance of funds would no longer be tolerated by the parliament.

He said the National Assembly was in possession of reliable information to the effect that expected inflows into the federation account were usually channelled into funding trivial and unnecessary projects or programmes. 

The speaker on Thursday, while addressing a special session on the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) earlier transmitted to the National Assembly by the President Muhammadu Buhari, said while revenue generated are not remitted to the coffers, government is left  with no option, but to borrow.

“Our country is currently facing a fiscal crisis, compounded by the intense disruption that has been wrought on our economic performance and financial projections by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are not the only ones.

“Nations all over the world, including those we rightly consider to be leading lights, are facing a moment of reckoning that is redefining the way government operates. Already, we have had to carry out severe cuts to the 2020 Appropriation Act, while at the same time borrowing more to fund urgent development needs and implement interventions to help the most vulnerable of our citizens get through these trying times with some dignity.

“All of us in the House of Representatives recognise that the challenges we now face will not abate in the medium term. Yet, we are committed to using the appropriations process as a tool for accomplishing our nation’s most pressing development objectives”, he stated.

On the alleged diversion of funds, the speaker said “We have credible reports that these desperately needed funds have in many cases, been diverted to finance unnecessary trivialities. At the same time, the government is left scrambling for alternative sources to fund priority projects. We cannot afford this dynamic, and we will not tolerate it any more”.  

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