Expert hails FG for barring MDAs from pilfering IGR generated by them
The recent executive order restraining all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from dipping hands into any of their generated revenue for the government has elicited reactions from financial experts.
In a telephone interview with Development Economist, Dr. Obum Ezedinbu, he said “The act had been the key background of poor revenue generation by the MDAs over the years.”
“Many MDAs have been running their organizations using government money at their disposal as if it belongs to them which are very wrong. To me, all MDAs should only have access to statutorily approved budgets and not pilfering with government revenue they generated.
“He said serious corruption tendencies are naturally encouraged when you have the power to generate fund and use same fund.
According to Ezedinbu, “the new order will stop cases of non remittance of generated revenue and further reverse the embarrassing trend of unremitted operating surpluses currently standing at about N450bn since end of 2016 financial year.
He submitted further that the new order will only teach MDAs the act of leaving within budgetary allocations given to them.
The order also noted that declaring deficits will no longer provide an escape route for the MDAs to avoid payment of operating surpluses.
The new template for reporting and payment of operating surpluses by the MDAs, will remain a guide to the MDAs on the payment of operating surpluses, bar them from spending their IGR unless such funds had been appropriated in the respective MDAs’ budgets for the year.
The MDAs are barred from spending money on, which hitherto had prevented them from paying operating surpluses to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.
Business Hilights gathered that the Fiscal Responsibility Commission Act, 2007 specifies that the MDAs should remit 80 per cent of their annual operating surpluses to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but many of the MDAs have been accused of spending their operating surpluses.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Finance had been battling the 33 MDAs that failed to remit a total of N450bn resulting from their operating surpluses between 2010 and 2015.
Already, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission are currently scrutinising deficit accounts of the affected MDAs in order to identify and remove unauthorised expenditures.
