Criticisms trail alleged plot to scrap fiscal responsibility commission

CRITICISMS have continued to trail the alleged plan to scrap the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), a move stakeholders blame on graft and personal interest.

  The Guardian learnt that the core mandate of the FRC, which is recovery of operating surpluses of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), has been outsourced to consultants by government. The decision to outsource the duty of the commission established under an Act of Parliament, may have been taken without formal communication to the agency, or any case of negligence of duty raised against it. It was also learnt that the contractual terms for the outsourcing include that the consultant would take about 2.5 per cent of the total value collected, the job the commission had performed without incentive. 

   Since 2008, the commission’s total budget allocations were put at less than N3.9 billion, compared to a whooping N337 billion it has recovered for the Federal Government. The worry over the alleged plot to quickly scrap FRC was heightened when it was discovered that the commission has also been hit with inadequate fund for its operations since late last year.

  According to a source, the FRC fund crisis, which persists till now, is a deliberate effort to frustrate its activities, since it cannot be scrapped immediately and the executive arm of government cannot scrap it without the consent of the National Assembly.

  The Oronsaye Committee on Rationalisation of the Civil Service had recommended the scrapping of the commission on assumption that its functions are clashing with those of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). But some civil society organisations have alleged that the recommendation was either prompted and/or misconcepted, because the core mandates were to compel any person or government institution to disclose information relating to public revenues and expenditures, investigate any alleged violation of its provisions and secure greater accountability and transparency in fiscal operations, among others, which RMAFC does not perform.

  Concerns were that the haste to implement the recommendation first, amid myriads of proposals by the committee, which are currently gulping public revenues to the tune of billions of naira yearly, does not show that the country is ready to be fiscally responsible.

  The Lead Director of Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, lamented that the country had always inflicted self with injuries due to poor setting of priorities.

  He pointed out that the Service Wide Vote, which was recommended for scrapping by the same committee has been ignored by the executive, with over N400 billion proposed as Vote in the 2015 fiscal plan.

  “How many government agencies produce N65 billion as average revenue yearly with an average cost of N700 million yearly?” he queried.

    Also, the Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Idris Miliki, said: “We believe the commission must not be scrapped and we also suggest the commission should explore litigation option to stop such unpopular decision. They should also engage the National Assembly on this crucial issue.”