•Our employees now leaving us for other agencies with better pay — chairman
The Senate Committee on Finance has described as laughable the N1.6 billion budgeted for the operations of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) in 2025.
One of the commission’s core functions is to enforce the remittances of revenues into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), especially by revenue-collecting agencies.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Sani Musa, expressed the displeasure of senators with the poor funding of the commission when its Chairman, Victor Muruako, appeared before it to defend the 2025 proposals of the body.
He noted that with such poor funding, the commission would be helpless to perform the huge tasks before it.
Musa described the situation as regrettable, highlighting the irony of the underfunding of a commission that is charged with ensuring and enforcing remittances of revenue into CRF even though the government is in dire need of improving its independent revenue.
In his presentation earlier, Muruako complained that N1.6bn was insufficient to fulfil the extensive mandate of the FRC.
The Head of Strategic Communications at the commission, Bede Anyanwu, in a statement on Monday, said Muruako also raised concerns about the need to increase staff wages, noting that many employees had left for other agencies with better pay structures.
The breakdown of the commission’s votes shows that N361.8million is earmarked for personnel; N738.2 million for overhead and N596.9 million for capital projects.
The commission made additional requests including increased capital funding to improve revenue generation and a push for the amendment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which had already undergone a public hearing in the 9th Assembly.
Members of the Finance Committee supported the call for improved funding and enhanced salary packages for the FRC, emphasising the importance of adequately equipping the commission to perform its critical functions effectively.
The committee also assured the commission of the commitment of the National Assembly to ensure that the amendment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) was accomplished to strengthen compliance by Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) and improve transparency and accountability in public finance management.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
