BUSINESS NCC refunds N22bn to consolidated revenue funds

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has recovered the total sum of N22bn as non remitted surplus of revenue generated by the National Communications Commission (NCC) between the 2007 and 2010.

The FRC had on the conclusion of the annual examination of the financial statement of the NCC between the above mentioned period, established a total liability of N22, 099, 000, 000, with the NCC remitting only N22bn with an outstanding N99m.

Speaking at the joint meeting between the FRC and the NCC, the Acting Chairman of the FRC, Barrister Victor Muruako, said, “Money is hard to give out, most of the revenue earning agencies have a lot of responsibilities, and ordinarily if you allow them, they will keep these money back that is why it behoves on us, who have the mandate, to ensure that such revenue are remitted to the consolidated revenue funds. The FRC has recovered for the consolidated revenue fund, a total sum of N120bn since its inception in the last 5 years from ministries, parastatals and agencies.”

Mrs. Sholanke A. I, who represented the Executive Secretary of the NCC said, “What we had were reconciliation issues and we have sorted them out. We have just made a payment of N9.2bn for 2013 and we are working out modalities to clear the balance.”

Also, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council ( RMRDC) could not resolve the issues raised in her 2012 financial statement when it appeared before the FRC yesterday owing partly to the absence of the Chief Executive.

According to the FRC, the RMRDC under-remitted its operating surplus to the treasury by N2.5 billion. FRC observed that RMRDC remitted N3.1bn out of the total of N7.1bn declared as operating surplus as against N5.6bn which should represent 80 percent as required by the extant laws.

The FRC also queried the non remittance of value added tax (VAT), withholding Tax and contributory pension totaling N4.4 billion as at 2012 report.

According to the Ag Chairman, “We prefer at the first instance to interface with Chief Executives of MDA’s. Most times and often, representatives end up avoiding issues that are best handled by the chief executive.”