Business Briefs
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VERIFICATION of revenue collections and remittances by banks engaged by the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service has shown that some banks have not yet remitted over N12 billion to the federation account. Ajibola Fagboyegun, chairman, Non-Oil Committee of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Reverend disclosed this in Abuja while receiving a draft report of the exercise.
The lead consultant, JK Consulting Company Limited, hired by the commission for the verification exercise presented the report in Abuja. Speaking at the presentation of the report, Fagboyegun demanded that the collecting banks should return the over N12bn, which they had failed to remit to the government coffers between 2008 and 2012 as uncovered in the report.
The RMAFC, which is the national revenue watchdog for the federation account, had engaged the services of consultants to verify and reconcile revenue collections and remittances by 20 collecting banks from January 2008 to June 2012 with a view to uncovering unremitted funds.
According to Fagboyegun, the purpose of the exercise, which began in November 2013, was to improve the public finance system and ensure all revenues collected on behalf of the government are remitted accurately and as and when due. While praising 15 of the banks, which cooperated with the consultants during the exercise, the chairman berated the remaining four banks for their uncooperative attitude, which had delayed the completion of the exercise.
He stressed that the laxity of the five banks could force the commission into taking drastic measures against them, including barring them from collection of government revenues. Fagboyegun said the RMAFC could also direct the Central Bank of Nigeria to enforce deduction of any unremitted funds traced to the defaulting banks from their reserve deposits.
— Sep 14, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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