The Senate has promised to allocate adequate funds to government agencies playing watchdog roles, given their critical functions of compelling revenue-generating agencies to comply with financial regulations.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Sani Musa, stated this when the Chairman of Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Mr Victor Muruako, appeared before the committee to defend the commission’s budget.
Sani, who decried what he called the under-funding of the commission, said that such critical and strategic agencies could not continue to be weakened lack of proper funding,
He said that the principle of budget envelope, which made it mandatory for the Budget Office to make proposals for the agencies, was hampering its activities, as adequate funds had never been allocated since its establishment in 2007.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that FRC was established in 2007 to promote transparent and accountable financial management framework in the country.
Musa said that the parliament would look into the commission’s 2025 budget with a view to reconsidering it.
“One major area that we will look at is funding; you are not funded very well, and you are just like the watchdog of all those agencies that generate revenue.
“You are more like the office of the Auditor-General, but yours is different because you mainly look at revenue and remittances.
“What they’ve done has outweighed you and honestly, Mr Chairman, I will commend you because you’ve been up and doing.
“We will do our best to see how the authorities can reconsider your budget, starting from 2025. Thank you, the commissioners; this is the first time I’m having a full picture of your agency.
“Just as I said, the committee honestly will not go into looking at what is here, but more is to concentrate on how we can get your request approved.
“That will be the basis upon which you will be comfortable so that you’ll have your working budget. And the second one is about the issue of amendment to your commission’s act.
“I have written a letter to the Senate President, which is still with me, and I like to discuss with him personally concerning the abysmal funding of the commission before I submit it to him.
“I am sure it will be passed to the Appropriation Committee,” he said.
Earlier in his budget performance report, Chairman of FRC, Muruako, said that the commission was doing its best.
He, however, said that inadequate funding had posed a major challenge to enforcing remittances in the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
According to him, the 2025 budget of N1.6 billion for the commission is grossly inadequate for its huge mandate.
He expressed the hope that the committee would reconsider funding of the commission for it to adequately deliver on its mandate. (NAN)
