- 122 Agencies to Pay Operating Surpluses, FG Targets N886bn
A total of 122 agencies are now required to pay operating surpluses annually into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government.
The Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Chief Victor Muruako, disclosed this during the appearance of the management of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria before the FRC in Abuja on Tuesday.
Muruako said the Federal Government had added 92 agencies to the original 30 that were required to pay operating surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund in the bid to raise the revenue profile of the government.
According to him, the administration of President of Muhammadu Buhari has set a revenue target of N886bn for the agencies through the payment of operating surpluses.
The FRC Act, 2007 requires listed government agencies to remit 80 per cent of their annual operating surpluses to the CRF.
The operating surplus is made up of revenues accruing to government agencies above what they are approved to spend at the beginning of the budget year.
Thirty agencies were originally listed in the Act. However, the addition of 92 agencies has brought the number of government organisations required to pay operating surpluses to 122.
Among the 92 agencies now included in the list are the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, Nigerian Railway Corporation, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.
Muruako said the FRC, which operates the Act, had started meeting with the 92 agencies that were recently included in the list in order to intimate them with the procedure for paying their operating surpluses to the coffers of the government.
The FRC boss listed items that were not recognised for exclusion in the accounts of agencies to include donations, depreciation, bank charges, provision for doubtful investments as well as provision for bad debts.
The Director-General, FRCN, Mr. Mansur Liman, said instead of lumping all agencies together as eligible for the payment of operating surpluses, the corporation deserved more investment from the government.
He said although the services of the corporation had been commercialised, there were still a lot of services being rendered but not paid for by the government and its agencies.
Government agencies remitted a total of N687.82bn to the CRF between 2007, when the Fiscal Responsibility Act came into effect, and 2015.
Among the 30 agencies listed as qualifying to remit operating surpluses, the Central Bank of Nigeria made the highest return of N497.63bn in a period of eight years. The organisation did not remit any surplus in 2015.
Notably, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation did not remit any surplus within the period of nine years.
Other organisations that made zero returns to the CRF included the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, National Environmental Standards Regulatory Agency, Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.
The Securities and Exchange Commission made only one remittance of N1.93bn in 2009, while the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation also made a remittance of N51.73m in 2013.
Similarly, the Nigerian Ports Authority made only one remittance of N6.16bn in 2013; just as the National Business and Technical Examination Board made one remittance of N14.94m also in 2013.
Apart from the CBN, other agencies that remitted comparatively high amounts of money included the Nigerian Insurance Deposit Corporation, N68.05bn; National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, N37.16bn; Nigerian Communications Commission, N32.35bn; and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, N24.24bn.
