House of Representatives has approved a recommendation requiring the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) to deduct unremitted revenues from the budgets of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
Gatekeepers News reports that these deducted funds will subsequently be transferred to the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
This decision follows the federal government’s announcement of Shamsedeen Ogunjimi’s appointment as the new Accountant-General of the Federation, which took place on March 5.
The approval was granted during a plenary session on Thursday, where the House reviewed and adopted a report from the committee on the tax reform bills. James Faleke, the committee chairman, initiated a motion for a clause-by-clause examination of the report.
The committee’s report recommended an amendment to a section of the NRS bill, specifically mandating the Accountant-General to carry out these deductions.
“The Accountant-General of the federation shall, not later than 30 days of receiving a warrant endorsed by the executive chairman of the service and approved by a judicial officer in accordance with the Third Schedule to this Act, deduct unremitted revenue due from any ministry, department, agency of government from its annual budgetary allocation or such other money accruing to it, and shall remit the deductions to the Service,” the committee recommended,” the document reads.
The report was subsequently considered and the committee’s recommendations were approved.
The committee also permitted the NRS to borrow funds “as necessary” for the execution of its functions.
“The committee also recommended that the service may borrow by way of loan, overdraft or otherwise from any source, such sums as it may require for the performance of its functions and meeting of its obligations under this Act,” the recommendation states.
However, it added that any borrowing must first be approved by the federal executive council (FEC) and the national assembly.
The committee also recommended that President Bola Tinubu appoint six executive directors for the NRS, with each representing one of the country’s six geopolitical zones.
According to the committee, the appointments will be made on a rotational basis among the states within each zone in alphabetical order.
The panel added that no executive director and the executive chairman should come from the same state.
