Concerned members of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) have called on the National Assembly to urgently investigate and reconcile discripancies in the submissions made by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria in respect of government’s revenue for July.
Contrary to a recent report by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yerima Ngama that total government revenue for July was N497.98 billion, the FAAC members are insisting that the figure was at variance with what was recorded in the Central Bank of Nigeria Economic report for the period put at N1.09 trillion.
Quoting the apex bank, in its economic report for July, the members, under the aegis of Forum of Concerned Members of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), explained in a statement that revenue from oil alone in July stood at N645.65 billion, while the total non-oil receipt was put at N404.53 billion.
They said that the latest report by the Minister and the plan by the Federal Government to abandon the revenue framework upon which the 2013 budget was prepared. “They alleged that the persistent decline in the gross federally collected revenue accruing to the Federation Account and insistence that revenue will only be shared based on amount actually earned rather than what is budgeted” was a calculated attempt to confuse Nigerians on the revenue accrued to the Federation Account.
According to them, “We wish to state that the revenue profile of the Federation as painted by the Minister of State, Finance, is incorrect and amounts to a gross distortion of facts and empirical data of revenue accruing to the Federation Account. Specifically, while the Minister puts the revenue earned in July 2013 at N497.98 billion, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) economic report for the same period stated that revenue from oil rose by 0.2 per cent to N645.65 billion, while gross non-oil receipt (corporate taxes, custom and excise duties and custom’s special duties) was put at N404.53 billion – a total of N1090.18 billion revenue which was higher than the budget estimate of N702.54 billion approved by the National Assembly for July 2013.”
The group also alleged that the outstanding/underpayment to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) since 2011 to date was N2.983 trillion.
“The question the Minister of State for Finance need to fully address without further delay is whether the N2.983 trillion held back by NNPC is not part of the revenue earned into the Federation Account meant for the three tiers of government. Why is the Minister not demanding full remittance into the Federation Account by NNPC and who are the people profiting from the fund held by NNPC in foreign accounts through delayed remittance and/or non remittance to the Federation Account in most of the cases listed above?” they demanded.
The Forum equally noted that there are also serious issues of substantial non-compliance with the 2013 Budget and non-adherence to disbursement agreed at regular monthly FAAC meetings. Giving the outstanding payment, representing shortfalls, agreed at the various FAAC meetings in line with 2013 budget pending disbursement, it put it at N376billion.
Its breakdown shows that last June augmentation stood at N121billion, July benchmark deficit was N140billion while the balance unpaid on the approved N115billion August 2013 FAAC summed up the figures to N376billion. 