The Civil Society Network against Corruption (CSNAC) has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) ‎to immediately commence investigation into an alleged non-remittance of generated revenue by about 600 government agencies.

In a petition forwarded to the acting chairman of the anti-graft commission‎, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, the group through its chairman, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, said the alleged non-remittance of generated revenue is a great disservice to the nation as well as an economic sabotage.

The coalition said it took its cue from the February 26, 2016, report of an online newspaper, TheCable, where it was reported that about 600 government agencies under-remitted generated revenues to the Federal Government.

According to the report, these agencies include Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), among others.

The petition said: “In a National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) report, obtained by TheCable, titled ‘Improving revenue collections and remittances by federal government agencies’, it was gathered that the NNPC, which should have remitted N3.02 trillion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) between 2007 and 2011, made no payment.

“According to the report, the Federal Government has nearly 600 agencies covering a wide spectrum of activities such as central and mortgage banking, insurance, oil and gas, maritime administration and safety, air and sea port management and so on.

“These agencies control trillions of Naira, but paradoxically, they account for only 5 per cent of the federal government budget deficit financing…the record shows that none of them, except those managed by technical partners (NITEL, NIGERDOCK, NAFCON etc.), make profits.

“In a calculated disregard for the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, that mandated government agencies to remit 80 percent of their operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the FG, while keeping 20 percent in the agency’s general reserve fund. Though the Act only covered 31 out of the 500 government agencies, most of the agencies listed have faulted in compliance. Since they were told to remit 80 percent of operating surplus, these agencies, began to post losses rather than surpluses, thereby remitting no amount to the federal purse.”

CSNAC noted that “Government agencies, besides helping the government to deliver dividends of governance to the citizens, also ought to serve as avenues through which the government ought to generate revenue for its daily activities.”

It said that “in recent times when the country is experiencing severe economic hardships due to low revenue from crude oil sales and foreign exchange, the billions of revenue generated from various government agencies, if remitted would have gone a long way in cushioning the effects of the economic realities. The non-remittance of generated revenue by the aforementioned agencies is a great disservice to the nation as well as an economic sabotage.”

The coalition, therefore, demanded that EFCC conducts a thorough investigation into the issues raised herein as well as the prosecution any individual found culpable. “This, according to it, “will contribute greatly to sanitising government agencies in Nigeria.”

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