A Civil Society Organisation, the Anti-Corruption Network, has raised eyebrows over the nation budgeting system which it noted is marred by corrupt practices which undermine economic progress.

Executive Secretary of the CSO, Senator Dino Melaye, made the declaration while speaking with newsmen in Abuja.

The Senator who represented Kogi West in the eighth National Assembly in his appraisal of the 2022 budget of certain Federal Government revenue agencies and the presidency called for a review of the budgeting system which he dismissed as an avenue “to cheat, defraud the country and enrich some few elected principal officers through manipulation of budget numbers.”

The Executive Secretary of the network alerted Nigerians to take more than passing interest in the budget of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Commission (FIRS) proposed 2022 budget which has been passed by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance.

He told newsmen that the N228bn budget of the FIRS surpassed the 2022 budget of the National Assembly (N134bn) and the judiciary (N120bn), noting further that it equally surpassed the budget of 24 states across the country.

Senator Melaye alleged that the FIRS budget is laced with fake items meant to misappropriate public funds.

He maintained that the presidency annual budget was also shrouded in secrecy, lacking transparency.

He said: “A typical example is the recent Federal Inland Revenue Service Commission (FIRS) proposed 2022 budget. FIRS presented its proposed 2022 budget to the House Committee on Finance sometime last month. The said FIRS budget stands at N228bn, surpassing the 2022 budget of the National Assembly (N134bn) and the judiciary (N120bn).

“The FIRS budget also surpasses the current 2021 budgets of Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara states.

“In the FIRS 2022 budget proposal, the tax body earmarked N2.5bn for the purchase of land, N3bn for office furniture, N1.5bn for photocopying machines, N2.04bn for computers and N500m for the construction of sports facilities. The agency set aside N1bn for generator fuel and N250m for maintenance while a separate N550m was set aside for purchasing more generators.

“The FIRS will also spend N6bn on its new headquarters and N2bn on the purchase of vehicles. It budgeted about N1.3bn for cleaning and fumigation of its offices nationwide while N1.4bn will be spent on general maintenance services. The FIRS budgeted about N1.3bn for office stationery and computer consumables while N3bn will be spent on printing non-security documents.

“The agency will spend N1.4bn on electricity charges, N460m on telephone charges and N1.3bn on security services. The FIRS will spend N7.9bn on donations and N200m as contributions to international organizations. The agency earmarked N800m for legal services, N1.04bn on bank charges, N9.5bn on welfare packages; N1.1bn on staff retreat, N2.9bn on repairs.

“How on earth can FIRS budget sum of N2.8bn for ‘uniforms and clothing’ for the year 2022 and in defence, the FIRS Chairman through his Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Johannes Wojuola had the guts to say that the word ‘uniform’ is the corporate outfit (dressing allowance) to be enjoyed by all the staff.

“As if that is not enough, the FIRS Board members shall be earning N370m sitting allowance for the incoming year, N550m for refreshments, N200m for sporting activities, set aside N262.5m for security votes while N11.36bn would be spent on miscellaneous expenses.

“Is it the presidency? The presidency proposed budget for 2022 stands at N150.5bn and the sum of 24.8bn was budgeted for the president. It was budgeted that the president will spend the sum of N775.6m for his local travels and transport while the sum of N1.5bn will be spent on international travels and transport (no wonder Mr. President is travelling up and down). The president foodstuff/catering material supplies stand at N301.1m, miscellaneous at N250.8m and honorarium & sitting allowance of Mr President is N174.1m,” he said.

Senator Melaye who accused the leadership of the National Assembly of surrendering its autonomy to the executive arm of government tasked Nigerians to be vigilant to save the nation collective patrimony from being hijacked by privileged few.

“The National Assembly is also not left out in these corrupt activities as they have compromised and betrayed the trust of their electorate. They have failed in their primary assignment of checking the excesses of the executive arm of the government and are now working in partnership in perpetrating this miasma called budgeting fraud. They have turn blind eye to huge sums of money budgeted for the imaginary projects under the guise of budget padding. They have also failed to make critical inputs into the budget process and, as part of their oversight function, ensure the budget process outcomes align with the anticipated objectives.

“Just this week, the above FIRS proposed 2022 budget scaled through the House Committee on Finance without proper scrutiny, therefore, failing Nigerians as the custodians of the nation’s commonwealth. They failed to use their constitutional mandate to ensure the judicious deployment of available resources at minimum cost.

“The provision of section 88(2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution which gives the National Assembly the powers to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by the National Assembly is now in abeyance,” he added.

The FIRS, however, dismissed the allegation raised by Senator Melaye as misleading.

Spokesperson of the Federal Government revenue-generating agency, Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, said some of the estimates against the items listed in the budget were fictitious.

In a statement titled “Facts versus Fiction: Correcting Wrongly told Takes of the FIRS 2022 Budget,” Wojuola also disclosed that the claim that “the total budget of the FIRS stands at N228 billion” is blatantly untrue.

His statement read in part “The Management of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) wishes to draw the attention of the taxpaying public and its staff to claims across the media that it is spending certain sums on uniforms, meals, miscellaneous, amongst other budget sub-heads. These reports are to be ignored as they are sensational and unfairly misleading.

“One of these reports claims that the service had delivered its budget estimates to the two chambers of the National Assembly. This is not true. Instead, the draft budget estimate was submitted only to the House Committee on Finance. Also, the claim that ‘the total budget of the FIRS stands at N228 billion’ is blatantly untrue.

“Furthermore, staff of the FIRS does not wear uniforms. It should be obvious to everyone that the reference that has been made to the budget for uniforms is not only false but also a misrepresentation of the facts. What has been referred to as uniform is the corporate outfit (dressing allowance) enjoyed by all the staff. It is nothing short of deliberate mischief that the word ‘uniform’ was used in place of the dressing allowance statutorily provided for the over 11,000 staff of the service, in order to misinform the Nigerian public.

“Similarly, the sum of N17.8 billion being bandied as an estimate for miscellaneous expenses is grossly false. Surely, the correct figure is N11.36 billion which represents the estimate for key administrative expenses for the whole year that the service proposed to the National Assembly, being an amount that would be incurred when approved, in respect of its over 500 operating offices and functions as well as for its 11,300 workforce.

“For clarity, the estimated expenses are for medical costs for over 11,300 staff, publicity, adverts & taxpayer education, welfare packages & festivity allowance to staff, corporate outfit grant (dressing allowance to staff), honorarium & sitting allowance for staff/stakeholders, sporting activities, postage and courier services.

“The public is therefore to note that the amount budgeted for the above-listed items represent merely 5.26% of the total budget estimate for the year, 2022. Rest assured, the FIRS will fully justify the estimates it has put forward in its budget proposal. The sums were duly and carefully provided after due needs assessment of the Service and beyond.

“With these details of well-intentioned provisions in the budgetary estimates which were put together by the relevant departments in the service, it is crystal clear that the management is conscientiously committed to quality service delivery and staff welfare. Therefore, management will continue to do everything within the limits of available resources to motivate and buoy up the morale of the staff.

“As a revenue-generating agency, the FIRS has an enormous task, especially with dwindling revenue from the oil sector, to expand and harness the untapped tax base of the country and mobilise revenue for the Federation, so that governments across the three tiers can deliver on their mandates to Nigerians.

“The management of the FIRS, therefore, frowns at uncharitable attempts to drag its well-wrought tax administration efforts into the murky waters of politics, as doing so will not serve any positive purpose,” the agency said.

(Nigerian Tribune)

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