The failure of the Accountant General of the Federation to provide records of revenue remittances by government agencies angered House of Representatives members yesterday.
The Committee on Finance is examining the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework.
The Accountant General said his office was unable to effectively track revenue remittances to the consolidated revenue fund (CRF).
This, it said, is because it does not have confidence in the Remita payment system linked to the Treasury Single Account with the Central Bank.
On the second day, the Office of the Accountant General failed to provide the Committee with records of revenue remittances by agencies that appeared before the committee to defend their medium-term expenditure framework.
The House Committee was disappointed with the discrepancies noticed in the revenue remittances of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Energy Commission of Nigeria.
While NOSDRA said it remitted about N2.4 billion to the CRF in 2021, the records of the AGF state that the agency remitted about N1.6 billion.
The AGF said the Energy Commission remitted about N27.82 million but the commission claimed it paid in N13.6 million to the CRF.
Deputy Director, Revenue and Investment in the Accountant General’s office, Ambrose Amayi, said the office often found it difficult to identify which agency makes a particular payment because the records they receive from the Central Bank often come as a bulk document without specification.
“When we have a copy of Central Bank statement, we find it difficult sometimes to identify agencies that have made payment.
“That is why we told them to come and identify themselves each time they make payment so that we can issue the receipt. The statement from CBN is not too explicit. We have codes for the agencies, but the CBN is not using the code.
Read Also: Finance, Power ministers to face Reps’ panel over $33m PPA
“These monies are paid to CBN using the TSA subhead. The money comes in form of a bulkhead.
“We then go to the Remita platform, use the debit advice or RRR that is generated and try and unbundle all the agencies that have paid so that we can match them. But that takes a bit of time.
“The problem we have is that the narration from CBN is usually poor and so, we had to rely on Remita.
“What the agencies are supposed to do is to apply to us that they have made payment. We have complained to CBN severally.”
Deputy Director, Sub-Treasury, who identified himself simply as Dangina, added: “Unfortunately, some of these Remita receipts are not reliable.
“You can generate an invoice for Remita, but it is actually not there. We always take extra precaution.”
Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Saidu Musa Abdullahi, who presided over the committee meeting, decried the government’s inability to provide the remittance details.
“This was the same thing that happened yesterday (Monday) when we had to send the agencies back to you to reconcile records and come back to us. We can’t be going back and forth on the same issue.
“What we have seen between Monday and Tuesday is not too palatable. We need to go back to the drawing board and look into all these things that we have highlighted and work out a plan on how to bridge the gap. What we are getting from you is not acceptable.
“On Monday, we agreed that we are going to get us all the data we need to work, but you are here not fully armed.
“I cannot understand why, in this age and era, our operations should still be manual; you issue receipts manually.
“The private sector is booming, the banks are working very well. With all that the government has in place, we are still struggling.”
Director of Finance and Account, Energy Commission, who made a presentation on behalf of the commission, said the agency remitted N13.6 million to the CRF in 2021, different from the N27.8 million in the records of the Accountant General.
This further irked the members who insisted on knowing why the records of remittances from the agency should be lower than what is contained in the records of the Accountant General.
Another lawmaker, Stanley Olajide, requested an enquiry into the activities of the Accountant General’s office.
He said: “I think a statutory enquiry is required because for this to be going on is unfortunate.
“How can we have money sitting in CBN and we don’t know which agency sent it?”
A House member, Taiwo Oluga, accused the office of the Accountant General of inefficiency.
She said: “It is good to be on record and Nigerians must know this, that all the agencies, especially the Office of the Accountant General, are our problem.
“Nigerians will be shouting that it is the politicians, but look at what has just been read out.
“So, it is good that we let Nigerians know that those of you that we have put at the helm of affairs in the various agencies, especially the office of the Accountant General, with the CBN, are our problems in this country.
“The youths should know so that when the next #EndSars starts, they know where to go.”
A lawmaker, Olalekan Afolabi, accused the office of the Accountant General of not helping the committee in carrying out its assignment.
The committee turned back the Chief Financial Officer of NBET, Waziri Bature, insisting that the Managing Director must appear in person before the committee.