The Director General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, on Tuesday disclosed that no fewer than 50 Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) were yet to remit about N2.78 trillion to the Federation Account as operating surpluses in line with the provisions of the law.
Akabueze, who made this disclosure while speaking at a town hall meeting with chief executives of government enterprises on the new Revenue Performance Management Framework for GOEs, said that the various enterprises were yet to remit about N2.78 trillion as operating surpluses.
Substantiating his claims with official data from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the public finance expert noted that there could be some discrepancies as some may have offset part of their indebtedness.
According to him, the non-compliance with the fiscal regulations has resulted to huge revenue challenges for government, particularly for the provision of basic infrastructure nationwide
Noting that government is currently under-investing in critical sectors, including education and health largely because of paucity of funds, Akabueze disclosed that efforts were being intensified towards bridging the infrastructural gaps through borrowing.
Some of the GEOs and agencies identified to be holding back their operating surpluses include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is said to owe N801.18 billion; Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC)– N30.85 million; Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) N1.34 trillion; Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC)– N11.99 billion and National Examination Council (NECO)– N16.33 billion.
Others are, NIMASA– N192.10 billion; the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) N8.81 billion, among others.
Curiously, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, mandates any government agency that generates revenue to remit 80 percent of its operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account.
Specifically, Sections 21 and 22 of the Act provide that government corporations and agencies shall, not later than six months from the commencement of the Act and every three financial years thereafter and not later than the end of the second quarter of every year, cause to be prepared and submitted to the finance minister their schedule estimates of revenue and expenditure for the next three financial years.
Contrary to these provisions and despite huge investment of about N40 trillion in the Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) by the Federal Government, they had only been able to pay an ‘insignificant’ amount as operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) over the years.
