RMAFC workers protest exclusion from stamp duty, remittances collection

Workers of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) have protested their exclusion from their statutory responsibilities by the management of the commission.

The workers, under the auspices of the Nigeria Civil Service Union NCSU (NLC) and Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (TUC), told newsmen, yesterday in Abuja, that the action of the management of the commission is in variance with the provision of paragraph 32 (a) of the Constitution, “To monitor accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account”.

The Chairman NCSU (NLC), Amanabo Josiah and Chairman of ASCSN (TUC), Martins Adeoye, who jointly addressed the media, said RMAFC recently secured the approval of the National Economic Council (NEC) to probe banks over the collection of stamp duties and the subsequent response of the commission that it is set to probe 22 commercial banks over stamp duty collections which the banks allegedly failed to remit to the Federal Government.

They said the NEC requested the commission and not consultants to probe banks, but that surprisingly, companies and firms were dominating the premises of the commission with their proposals, even when the acting chairman was yet to intimate the management team on the modalities to prosecute the assignment after over three weeks of the approval.

The union leaders lament that workers of the commission have noticed, with dismay, the undue interference in the activities of the commission, including the appointment of consultants to carry out functions which the staff are capable of handling, even when the commission has professional accountants, economists, statisticians and forensic auditors among others on its pay roll.

They therefore, among others, urged all commercial banks to henceforth desist from attending to any consultants on issues of verification and reconciliation of revenue collection and remittances by FIRS and NCS as the contract agreement terminated on 1st May, 2017.