The House of Representatives Committee on Finance has asked the Budget Office of the Federation to deduct the balances of under remittances from allocation from defaulting agencies of government.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. James Faleke (APC-Lagos) issued the directive during an interactive session with government agencies on the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that it was not fair to the system for agencies both in the private and public sector not to remit revenue to the government.
Faleke frowned at the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for under remitting over N7 billion.
According to him, there is no law that permits any agency of government to spend the money it generates without the approval of the National Assembly.
“When you are bringing your budget, you know your activities; every agency is aware of their activities and one of your activities is that you need to go and carry out inspection which should have formed part of your overhead expenses and government will release the money to you.
“But the fact that you have a shortfall in releases does not empower you to spend you Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“No agency of government is empowered to do that; not even the Ministry of Finance or even the president; it is clear, the president will tell you to go and do it according to the law.
“It is not right that government is losing about N7 billion to your expenditure. N7 billion which should have come to the system out of which you can then draw,” he said.
Faleke said that the Chinese loans had generated concerns in the country in recent times, saying that Nigeria had such money within its agencies.
“We are not remitting what we are supposed to remit; the private sector will not remit taxes and you, government agencies being paid salaries will not remit,” he said.
Responding, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, explained that the money was not spent on frivolities.
Represented by the Director Administration and Human Resources, Mr Joseph Aina, Adeyeye claimed that permission was obtained from Budget Office of the Federation to spend the money generated through its User Fee Platform.
