By Kunle SHONUGA
About N11.59 billion was remitted as independent revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in 2017, a report by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) said.
The 2017 Annual Reports and Audited Accounts of the organisation made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja, said 21 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government remitted the said amount.
According to the report, it is an improvement on the N8.27 billion remitted by 21 MDAs in 2016.
MDAs with the highest remittances are Ministry of Mines and Steel Development with N3.92 billion, Ministry of Environment with N3.83 billion and Federal Road Safety Corps with N1.81 billion.
It said that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment remitted N730.6 million, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion remitted N454.8 million, Ministry of Works, N190.9 million, Ministry of Justice, N138.9 million and Ministry of Labour and Productivity, N134.3 million.
Others are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with N106.5 million, National Judicial Council, N52.77 million, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, N40.86 million, Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation N30.88 million and Ministry of Information, N30.47 million.
The report added that the National Sports Commission remitted N27.47 million, National Assembly Service Commission, N20.2 million, Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, N17.39 million, Ministry of Health, N14.08 million and National Emergency Management Agency, N10.22 million.
The lowest remittances came from the Ministry of Education with N7.18 million, National Youth Service Corps, N6.40 million and Ministry of Science and Technology which remitted N1.72 million.
The organisation said it sent out requests to MDAs to submit revenue returns on a quarterly basis to assess their level of compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007, but the response was not encouraging.
“Available data on revenue obtained in the previous years revealed that the MDAs had been defaulting in the remittance of their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) to the Federation Account/CRF.
“As part of efforts to improve the response rate, the commission is holding interactive stakeholders’ forum with scheduled corporations.
“This will encourage the MDAs to realise expectations and provisions of the Act and the need to fully comply.”
The report said it would also ensure higher revenue remittances to the treasury in the years ahead.
The FRC was established by the FRA to provide for prudent management of the nation’s resources.
