FAAN,3 Others Fail To Remit Operating Surpluses – FRC
The Fiscal Responsibility Commission(FRC) has accused a number of agencies including the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria of failing to remit their operating surpluses to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.
Other agencies that are failing to remit their operating surpluses, according to FRC, are the Nigerian Tourism Development Commission and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency.
In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday, the Acting Chairman of FRC, Mr Victor Muruako, also disclosed that the agencies were failing in submitting their annual audited accounts, budgets, and Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks.
Muruako, according to the statement, spoke at a stakeholders’ meeting with the managements of the agencies at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The FRC boss pointed out that the independent revenue drive of the Federal Government was not encouraging, adding that NERC, FAAN, NTDC and NOSDRA had not been complying fully with the provisions of sections 21, 22 and 23 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.
While appreciating the representatives of the agencies for their presence at the meeting, he implored them to inform their chief executives that the commission would appreciate their presence to ensure a more robust discussion on specific areas of strategic nature to improve compliance.
In his remarks, the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at FRC, Alhaji Ola Tijani, pointed out that the agencies might be doing something right in a bid to ensure compliance but said that there must be proof of prudence, accountability and transparency in financial reporting in order to be in line with the FRA 2007.
According to him, compliance entails that the agencies prepare and publish their audited financial statements not later than 90 days after the financial year and operating surplus thereafter determined in the line of publishing Annual Financial Statement with the operating surplus calculating template within 30 days.
Tijani emphasised that without Audited Financial Statement, there was no way the commission could determine appropriate liabilities, adding that there was the need for agencies to reposition their operations to comply with the provisions of the Act.
He further said that the commission was ready to offer capacity building on the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, particularly on the preparation of MTEF and the correct application of Fiscal Responsibility Commission Operating Surplus Template.
