Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Victor Muruako, has said that the Commission helped to raise the Federal Government’s independent revenue to N1.250 trillion in 2021 from N532.903 billion in 2020.
The figure for 2021 is the highest independent revenue generated in over eight years by the Federal Government.
The FRC chairman made the disclosure at the opening ceremony of a five-day capacity-building session for the chairmen and members of the Sokoto and Kaduna States Fiscal Responsibility Commission, held on Monday in Abuja.
“As we continue to enforce the mandate of the Commission, the efforts of the Commission have become a major resource to the National Assembly in terms of ensuring compliance to extant laws of the Federation on revenue generation and compliance to preparation and presentation of audited statement of accounts by Government owned Enterprises,” Murako said.
Muruako commended Governors Aminu Waziri Tambual of Sokoto and Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State, for setting up their states Fiscal Responsibility Commissions.
The FRC Chairman said, “When macroeconomic management is mentioned, people tend to think of it as the sole responsibility of the Federal Government, with the Federal Minister of Finance as the arrowhead.
“While that is not altogether false, it needs to be seen and acknowledged that the collective fiscal activities of states and local governments outweigh those of the Federal Government.
“Hence, to work hard at controlling unemployment, inflation, security, transparency, accountability, sustainability, macroeconomic stability, etc without a commensurate commitment of states and local governments is like mopping the floor with the tap running.”
He said the Commission was committed to partnering with states and local governments towards strengthening the fiscal responsibility ecosystem in Nigeria as a nation had one macro-economy and its components such as states and local governments, in the case of Nigeria, were indispensable in achieving positive outcomes in key indices of economic development.
He mentioned that states like, Benue, Taraba, Niger, Gombe, Ebonyi, Adamawa, Yobe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Anambra, Abia, Cross Rivers, Delta, Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Osun, Bayelsa, Enugu, and Nasarawa have passed the Fiscal Responsibility Law. He also urged other state governors to also follow suits and Fiscal Responsibility Commissions for the sake of national economic growth and development.
He further made reference to Section 41 and 44 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 which provides the rules and the conditions for borrowing by any Government in the Country.
He added that the exercise by the Sokoto and Kaduna Fiscal Responsibility Commissions was a product of the engagements of the FRC with the state government and other key stakeholders over the years.
“An essential aspect of the Commission is the monitoring of the borrowing and indebtedness of the governments of the federation which comprises the Federal, States and the Local Government Areas with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of debts of the Federal and Sub-national Government”, he said.
The Chairman Sokoto State Fiscal Responsibility Agency (FRA), Alhaji Aliyu Muhammed, said they were in Abuja to study and borrow a leaf from their past experience so that when they get back to Sokoto, they will get the job done as expected.
He expressed the optimism that at the end of the programme, they will have something very tangible to take back home
In his response the Chairman, Kaduna State Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Alhaji Murtala Dabo commended the efforts of Barrister Muruako and his officials, saying his team was in Abuja to understudy the FRC.