The Senate’s joint Committee on Finance and National Planning, has since Wednesday last week, been interfacing with heads of the various MDAs on their revenue projections for the 2021-2023 fiscal years as contained in the MTEF /FSP documents. Taiye Odewale reports.
2021-2023 projects expenditure proposals
In line with the resolution of the Senate after receipt of the 2021 – 2023 proposals cum projections on expenditures and revenues for the fiscal years, as contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework ( MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), forwarded to it by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 21st of last month for approval, the upper legislative chamber’s joint committee on Finance and National Planning, has been having investigative sessions with heads of the various federal government owned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), on their revenue projections for the N12.6trillion 2021 budget estimates in particular.
The interactive sessions which are slated to end today, Tuesday, August 25, 2020, have been characterised with disagreements between the federal lawmakers and heads of the various MDAs on projected revenues for the years in focus, particularly in view of the projected N5.1trillion deficit financing of the proposed N12.6 trillion 2021 budget estimates as contained in the MTEF/FSP documents.
Buhari projection and assumptions
President Muhammadu Buhari had out of the projected N12.6 trillion as aggregate expenditure for the 2021 fiscal year, as contained in the MTEF/FSP documents, proposed budget deficit of N5.16trillion to be funded by both external and internal loans of N4.28trillion, targets N481.41billion as statutory transfers, N5.75trillion as recurrent expenditure, N3.33trillion for capital expenditure and N3.12 trillion for debt servicing.
Critical parameters and assumptions, upon which the proposals are based as contained in the documents, are $40 as oil price benchmark, 1.86million barrels as oil production per day, N360 to US dollar as exchange rate etc.
Also included in the proposals are N500billion intervention fund against COVID-19 pandemic, N52billion for Public Works Programme, N32.46billion for Social Intervention Programme, N5billion as bail out for the Aviation sector, N60billion for maintenance of roads through direct labour across the six geo-political zones etc.
But the Senate’s joint committee led by Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC Lagos West), in his capacity as chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, felt that the revenues for funding the budget should be sourced more from internally generated revenues by the various MDAs as against N4.28trillion proposed loans in servicing the N5.16 trillion budget deficits.
Expectedly, the joint committee co-chaired by the chairman, Senate Committee on National Planning, Senator Olubunmi Adetunbi (APC Ekiti North), took up the various MDAs on their projected revenues by tasking them to block the leakages in their revenue generation processes, in saving the country from further debts traps and having the required monies to fund her infrastructural deficits across the various sectors.
In the process, while the committee and heads of some of the agencies, arrived at mutual agreements in working towards improved revenues generations in the coming years, it was more of disagreements, disappointments and drama between the Committee and heads of other agencies arising from unsatisfactory submissions on budgets performance of previous years and non- encouraging revenue projections for coming years.
Sundry submissions
In the category of MDAs whose heads had mutual understanding and agreement with members of the joint committee on the need for better budget implementation performance through improved revenues generations, were the Nigeria Customs Service based on presentations made by its Comptroller General , Col Hameed Ali (Rtd), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), based on submissions made by its Executive Chairman, Mohammad Mamman Nami, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC) , based on presentations made by its Group Managing Director ( GMD), Mele Kyari represented by the Chief Finance Officer ( CFO), Umar Ajiya etc.
Most of the other heads of agencies had unpleasant encounters with members of the joint committee on account of unsatisfactory submissions or presentations upon which the Committee directed them to reappear before it Monday or Tuesday this week.
Agencies in this category are the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and Nigerian Inland Water Ways (NIWA) Bank of Industry (BOI), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) etc.
Specifically, trouble came the way of the DPR during the interactive session when the committee demanded for records of the agency’s internally generated revenues in 2019 and projections for 2021.
The head of planning of the agency, Mr Johnson Ajewole, who first spoke in the absence of the Director, Engr Sarki Auwalu, said a total of N2.4trillion was generated by DPR in 2019 but N44 5billion was remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
Irked by the wide gap in what was realised and remitted, the committee members described his submission as unacceptable. Even efforts made by the Head of Finance and Accounts of the Petroleum agency, Mrs Lilian Ufondu, to explain the wide gap in revenues and remittance, further angered the committee members.
According to her, out of the N2.4trillion generated by DPR in 2019, N88billion was removed as 4 percent collection fee out of which N5.72billion was also remitted while the balance was used for over head.
Issues
Persistent questions fired at her by the committee chairman and members on what happened to the over N2trillion balance, were not satisfactorily answered as she was only able to mention overhead and operational costs without specific figures tied to them.
She added that as at July this year, DPR has generated N1.13trillion and projecting N3.4trillion as revenues generation for 2021 out which N139billion will be taken out as 4 percent collection fee.
Angered by the submissions and alleged disjointed records presentations, the committee, ordered that the agency must reappear before it unfailingly on Tuesday next week and must be led by its Director, Sarki Auwalu, alleged to have traveled abroad.
Specifically the committee chairman said: “Information and records presented to us by both Directors and heads of departments that have spoken are not clear and insufficient as regards budget performance of DPR within the last three years and revenue projection for 2021.
“For this committee to do proper and thorough job, comprehensive records of such budget performances must be made available latest by Monday next week, upon which you’re Director and other top management staff, will appear before us again on Tuesday next week.
“Also, well detailed proposals for revenues generation by the agency for 2021-2022 must be included in the expected comprehensive records”
Efforts made by journalists to make the troubled agency’s head of Finance and Accounts , Lilian Ufondu , explain her inability and that of her counterpart on Planning , Johnson Ajewole , to make satisfactory submissions before the committee , proved abortive , as lamented that the day was a bad one for her and DPR. “I’m sad and is a bad day for us. We are told to come back and we shall return on Tuesday next week (today)”, she lamented.
For the heads of agencies like Nigeria Inland Waterways (NIWA), Bank of Industry (BOI) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), absence of their bosses and inability of their Representatives to make convincing presentations, were their problems.
While NIWA’s boss was said to have traveled abroad, those of BOI and SON, were alleged to either be indisposed or hospitalized. When asked by the committee’s chairman, the hospital the Director- General of SON, Osita Aboloma, is being attended to, from the Director of Budget, David Okon, said “I don’t know”, which led to eruption of laughter in the hall by all those present.
Expectedly as directed last week, the Director General of NTA, Yakubu Ibn Mohammed, reappeared before the committee yesterday (Monday ), but told to report back today ( Tuesday ), having failed to convince the committee members of the N1.8billion indebtedness from COVID-19 advertisement and eleven years non- profit joint venture with Startimes.
