The Senate has passed a resolution based on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) report to amend the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Muhammed Sani Musa stated this during the ongoing 2024 budget defence at the National Assembly.
According to him, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) is one of the most critical Agencies of Government because its role is not just to monitor the fiscal policies but also to help generate what the monetary policies can achieve.
He said, “By the grace of God, the Senate is going to work on the FRA, 2007 and we are going to look at those areas that we feel that can strengthen the Commission and also look at the area of human capital because there is no way we can have Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and then we are worried every day about the huge debt burden we are experiencing in Nigeria.
“We have made a law, and we must abide by those laws because most sub-national governments are not supposed to go to any bank to collect any overdraft without clearance or proof of compliance from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission.”
He assured the Commission that the Senate is ready to create a better working environment for it, pointing out that based on the input which the Commission has already started making at the National Assembly which is yielding positive results on revenue, the Red Chamber is going to look into the FRA at the Committee level and make a recommendation to the Senate and hope that the appropriation Committee will reason with them and do something about the Budget of the Commission.
In his presentation, the Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Barr. Muruako, appealed to the Senate Committee on Finance to continue supporting the Commission to actualize its mandate.
He placed more emphasis on adequate funding in the successful implementation of the Act. He therefore solicits the assistance of the Senate and expresses the willingness of the Commission to ensure higher remittances of revenue by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Barrister Muruako considered the proposal of independent revenue estimated to be N3 million as an error and proposed a further increase to the sum of N20 million.
He expressed optimism that this is attainable, hence their proposal should be adjusted. He also challenged other agencies to improve on their revenue drive.
According to the Chairman, in 2022 a total of N1.3 trillion comprising N181 billion as Operating Surplus and N1.1 trillion as internally generated revenue was tracked and facilitated by the Commission.
He reported that the figure has been improved upon in 2023 as of October 2023 we already have N1.66 trillion, with a target to hit N2 trillion by December 2023.
The FRC boss assured the Senate Committee on Finance that the Commission could fund her Budget if the government can give the desired support.
Others who took part in the budget defence include the Minister of Finance Wale Edun, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Sakirat Madein.