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Sunday Aborisade and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The National Assembly yesterday lamented the poor remittances of revenues generated in 2024 by ministries, departments and agencies of the federal government (MDAs) and some government-owned enterprises (GOEs) to the Federation Account.
The Chairman, Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, expressed the concern at an interactive session on the MDAs’ revenue projections for 2025.
The federal agencies and ministries whose accounting officers and Chief executive officers attended the meeting were the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
They also included the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC).
Sani said the National Assembly was not satisfied with the widening disparity between the substantial revenue accruals to the MDAs and their consistently low remittances to the federation account.
He added, “This trend undermines the government’s capacity to fund critical infrastructure and social services, calling to question issues of inefficiency, mismanagement and possible revenue leakages.”
The Committee Chairman explained that his committee’s mandate was to ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in the financial operations of the agencies.
He said the committee would continue to scrutinise MDAs’ revenue projections, performance and adherence to statutory remittance obligations.
This, he said, was to identify systematic doubts and recommend actionable results to reverse the troubling patterns.
Musa sought the cooperation and understanding of all stakeholders at the interactive session.
He said it was imperative that accurate data, comprehensive records and open data were presented for the benefit of Nigerians.
He added, “Let us approach these tasks with a shared commitment to building a stronger, more accountable fiscal framework for Nigeria.
“I call on all of us to please be very open on all those areas that we know, even if they are not presented to us.”
He therefore directed all heads of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to appear in person for the defense of their 2025 budget proposals, instead of merely submitting documents.
He said the exercise was important to fulfill the constitutional mandate of the National Assembly and to ensure accountability.
He added, “This hearing is a critical step in addressing the fiscal challenges confronting the nation.
“We are committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the financial operations of government enterprises.
“The goal is to scrutinise budget projections, assess agency performance, and identify gaps in adherence to statutory remittance obligations, while proposing actionable reforms to address troubling trends.”
However, during the budget defence, a member of the committee, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC/Edo North), queried the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over its spending in 2024.
This Day