FRC recovers over N360bn from MDAs

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The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) Monday said it recovered over N360 billion from the operating surpluses of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

The chairman of the commission, Victor Muruako said this during a 2day training tour of Ebonyi State Fiscal Responsibility Commission to FRC Abuja.

His words: “As part of our mandates, we have gone out to look for these revenues from agencies that have been hiding their report and we have retrieved over N360 billion by our activities from the consolidated revenue funds”.

Adding that the commission at present has embarked “on investigative visits to several agencies which prompt them to do what is right.”

According to him, “a lot of government agencies ordinarily won’t pay the operating surpluses which they are now paying.” While noting that the money is not being paid to them but they (MDAs) pushed it to the consolidated revenue funds of the federal government.

Addressing the Ebonyi State FRC members, he said, “That is where you have a role to play. You must find ways and means to trigger those state companies and parastatals that over the years rather collect money from the federal government. If you investigate some of them you find out that they are making so much money.

“For example, the state housing corporations most times collect land from people free; they collect money from state government; they will build and sell and will never declare profits. They are always complaining. If you visit their offices, it won’t seem as if much is going on whereas a lot is going on.”

Muruako urged the Ebonyi State FRC tourists “to encourage their state government to look inwards because the truth is that if the continuous dwindling of the revenue persists for the next six months and our allocation continues being this slow, it’s either we get the right attitude to do the right thing or we will be on the floor.

“The truth is that some state governments have refused to develop alternative means of raising cash. We are not praying for such, that is why they should see you as partners to help them.”

The FRC chairman maintained; “that every state of the federation should establish fiscal responsibility agencies and should not continue to shy away from this reality.”

On the benefits of this commission, he said: “fiscal responsibility agencies all over the world have been use to transform countries like India, Singapore, Asia, Canada, Switzerland, and other countries. All the countries that stopped today have themselves to blame. For instance, when the US suspended Fiscal responsibly, they saw the results. Also Argentina and few other countries that abandoned FR initiatives and what it led them to.”

Muruako said “citizens should take the benefits of these agencies to encourage their state governments to key into the new regime of fiscal responsibility commission by adopting their own laws to suit their convenience and also setting up a commission that will also discharge their mandates just like the federal government have done theirs.

Muruako said the newly inaugurated Ebonyi State FRC members may face challenges ranging from finance and relationships, even stepping on big toes while adding that debts and borrowings have become the biggest problems.

He urged them to be bold to ask governor’s questions on their budgets and make sound inputs because that is the reason for their appointment.

The chairman of the Ebonyi State FRC, Nwaigbo Vincent Mbanu who led the tourists to Abuja said that Ebonyi state is keying with the federal government in line with the present situation of fighting corruption in all facets and hopes that after the training, they will be equipped with more knowledge to work harder.

Source: The Nation