From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has queried the non-remittances of revenue generated by some agencies classified as Government-Own Enterprises (GOEs) to the Federation Account.

Speaking at a retreat on the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) Post-Mortem Sub-Committee in Asaba, Delta State capital, the chairman of the commission, Mohammad Bello Shehu regretted that the contribution of revenues from the non-oil sector to the federation account looks impressive from 2019 to 2022, saying that findings of the commission in the course of carrying out its constitutional mandate of monitoring revenues to the federation account indicated that more revenues are yet to be remitted into the federation account from public sector, private sector and the government itself (Federal and State Government tax Liabilities).

To this extent, he said that there is a need to improve the revenue generation from the non–oil sector to the Federation Account.

Bello assured that the commission must ensure that all the unremitted revenues must be recovered.

“On the part of the commission, we are already working in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the unremitted revenues are recovered to the Federation Account as soon as possible.

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“Section 162 and 162 (10) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) as regards public revenues is very clear. Also, the legal opinions of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federal and Minister of Justice on this position are clear. I also call on the post-mortem to critically look at this issue in the course of the deliberation” the chairman said.

Meanwhile, stakeholders resolved that the shareholding of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited should reflect the vertical allocation formula for the federal, state and local governments; NNPC Limited should not charge additional fees for lifting and selling royalty and tax oil on behalf of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); The RMAFC should look into the charge of 10 per cent as management fees and another 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund before remitting profit oil and gas into the Federation Account.

The participants also decided that any unutilised money from the operations of NUPRC or any other agency should be paid into the Federation Account at the end of the year contrary to the provisions of section 47 (4) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and in accordance with section 162 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); They urged the government to streamline the regulatory roles of the NUPRC and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) to remove any envisaged duplication of functions to ensure smooth operation of the sector.

“The RMAFC should ensure that all unpaid royalties after 30 days from the due date are debts on the NUPRC and must be paid with interest at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prevailing rate; The framework for implementing PIA needs to address the issue of energy transition. There is need for stakeholders within and outside the sector to begin engagement on strategic initiatives that would address this global trend in shifting to cleaner and environmentally-friendly energy sources.

“Government at all levels should intensify effort to improve independent/internal revenue generation;
The on-going amendment to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) should be concluded to allow the devolution of powers to states to regulate on some items under the exclusive list such as issuance of mining licences and streamline some other items under the concurrent list such as provision of education, power, roads and environment;

“The downstream operations of the petroleum industry should be fully deregulated to provide for the removal of subsidy; Nigeria cannot continue to sustain the provision of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) because of the negative impact it has on the nation’s revenue. Accordingly, subsidy on PMS should be phased out; Revenue proceeds accruing from subsidy removal should be used for the benefit of the entire population and should be put to projects having direct impact on the citizens such as education, healthcare, skill acquisition, etc; The Act of the RMAFC should be amended to provide for adequate administration, funding from consolidated revenue fund (CRF) (as first line charge) and power of enforcement to ensure its independence and discharge of its constitutional functions” the participants, noted.