The Nigerian Senate has cautioned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) against delayed and non-remmitance of internally generated revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Account (CRA).
Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, gave the caution in Abuja on Monday at day two of the interactive session on Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) with revenue generation agencies.
Senator Sani, who was responding to the presentations of the Nigerian Institute of Legal and Advanced Studies and the Nigerian Maritime Academy on delayed remmitances to the CRA, said MDAs must take issues of remittance seriously.
He asked the MDAs to present to the committee a breakdown of their revenue collection and remmitances from January to date.
“MDAs are aware that any action in breach of financial regulations is a breach of the law.
“Agencies must work toward remitting the revenue due to the government upon collection without delay. I request that all receipts of remmitances be made available to the committee,” he added.
Senator Sani, who raised issues of disparity in revenue projections and remmitances based on the presentations of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and the Office of Accountant General for the Federation, also urged the Accountant General of the Federation to interface with MDAs for reconciliation of remmitances made and revenue projections in the MTEF and FSP.
He also requested for a detailed breakdown of remittances arising from revenue collected from stamp duties by the MDAs.
“There is need for proper reconciliation of the remmitances in line with the nation’s financial laws and Fiscal Responsibility Act,” he said.
In her response, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, said her office does engage the MDAs to reconcile their accounts and remmitances made to government in line with the financial laws.
Also, Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs Patience Oniha, while responding to questions on new government loan request, said Nigeria needs to challenge itself to generate revenue, given its projection on debt services by 2026.
Among the MDAs that appeared to present their revenue projections for the 2024-2026 MTEF and FSP were the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), Nigerian Maritime Academy, and the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Others were the the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), and Debt Management Office, among others.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the Joint Matriculation and Examination Board (JAMB), and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) were asked to appear another day for re- presentation of their expenditure and revenue projections.
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