MDAs operate without MTEF, Fiscal Commission says

Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission Victor Muruako, yesterday, said most ministries, departments and agencies operate without the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

This, he said, has resulted in the numerous abandoned projects scattered across the country.

He was speaking at the 2018 Strategy Focus Session, organised by the League Civil Society Groups in Abuja.

“Most MDAs don’t even make any serious commitment to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. You will find a situation whereby there are abandoned projects all over the place due to lack of planning and institutionalization of MTEF,” he said.

According to him, the commission is working to develop an acceptable template for MTEL, saying “There must be a yardstick to guide to ensure that the acceptable template is operationalized in our system if we must make good of the budget.”

He said there are 122 government agencies under the purview of the FRC Act, and under obligation to remit 80% of their operating surplus to the commission.

This, he said, is targeted at generating more revenue for the Federal Government.

While calling for inclusion of paramilitary agencies under the purview of the commission, he said if more agencies are added, the government need not borrow to fund the national budget.

“We have sufficient funds within most of the government agencies to fund the budget,” he added.

He said the commission has developed a standard template for calculating operating surplus that had been accepted by the Federal Executive Council.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, has reiterated the agency’s commitment to ensuring the financial survival of deposit-taking financial institutions through its supervisory function as well as financial and technical assistance.

He said there were 25 deposit money banks, 1,002 microfinance banks, 42 primary mortgage banks and 23 mobile money operators across the nation as at the end of 2017.

He urged Nigerians to always report noticeable issues that border on unethical/sharp practices or professional misconduct in the nation’s banking system to NDIC or CBN.

The president of the league, Kamaldeen Adefila, said the event was organised to engage government agencies on their statutory functions and properly assess their performance and recommend areas that need improvement.