A group of anti-corruption campaigners, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) has submitted a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requesting it to commence investigations into an alleged non-remittance of revenues generated by about 600 federal government agencies.
In a petition signed by CSNAC Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju and forwarded to the acting chairman of the anti-graft commission, Ibrahim Magu, the group said the alleged non-remittance of generated revenue was a great disservice to the nation and an act of economic sabotage.
The coalition said it took its cue from a report last month by The Cable, where it was reported that about 600 government agencies under-remitted generated revenues to the government coffers.
According to the report, these agencies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), and others.
“In a National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) report, obtained by The Cable, titled ‘Improving revenue collections and remittances by federal government agencies,’ it was gathered that the NNPC, which should have remitted N3.02 trillion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) between 2007 and 2011, made no payment.”
According to the report, the Federal Government has nearly 600 agencies covering a wide spectrum of activities such as central and mortgage banking, insurance, oil and gas, maritime administration and safety, air and sea port management and so on.
“These agencies control trillions of Naira, but paradoxically, they account for only 5 per cent of the Federal Government budget deficit financing…the record shows that none of them, except those managed by technical partners (NITEL, NIGERDOCK, NAFCON etc.), make profits.
“Furthermore, the Federal Government under Goodluck Jonathan, and the Ministry of Finance under Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in November 2011, directed these agencies (particularly the revenue generating agencies) to remit 25 percent of their gross operations revenue to the CRF.”
According to the report by The Cable, this led agencies to under-report their revenues, allowing them to remit less to the Federal Government.
The coalition stated, “In recent times when the country is experiencing severe economic hardships due to low revenue from crude oil sales and foreign exchange, the billions of revenue generated from various government agencies, if remitted, would have gone a long way in cushioning the effects of the economic realities. The non-remittance of generated revenue by the aforementioned agencies is a great disservice to the nation as well as an act of economic sabotage.
“CSNAC is therefore demanding that the EFCC conducts a thorough investigation into the issues raised herein as well as the prosecution any individual found culpable. This will contribute greatly to sanitizing government agencies in Nigeria,” the petition reads.
