The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has hosted a high-level bilateral meeting involving the Debt Management Office (DMO) and a delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to review Nigeria’s progress in fiscal risk management and deepen institutional cooperation.
The IMF team, led by Sybi Hida, Senior Economist in the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department, was received by the Special Adviser to the Executive Chairman of FRC, Dr. Chris Uwadoka, and the Director of Legal, Investigation & Enforcement, Mr. Charles Chukwuemeka Abana.
Hida noted that the Fund’s mission was to assess the strides made by the FRC in identifying, monitoring, and managing fiscal risks. He emphasized the importance of strengthening institutional collaboration and encouraged greater openness in reporting fiscal vulnerabilities, stressing that effective fiscal-risk management is central to good governance.
During the technical session, Mrs. Rachael Angbazo delivered a detailed presentation on “The Role of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in Monitoring Fiscal Risks”. Her presentation outlined major sources of fiscal risk in Nigeria, including:
Macroeconomic Risks: Oil-sector instability, inflationary pressures, exchange rate volatility, and rising interest rates.
Institutional & Governance Risks: Weak compliance with Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007 provisions.
Contingent Liabilities: Government loan guarantees, PPP-related obligations, and judgement debts.
Environmental, Security & Social Risks: Flooding, insecurity (including Boko Haram, banditry, insurgency and other forms of criminality), and public-health threats such as Lassa Fever.
Angbazo highlighted the Commission’s mandate—both legal and operational—in promoting transparency, enforcing fiscal rules, supporting fiscal forecasting, and improving the quality of fiscal information available to policymakers and the public.
She also outlined the FRA 2007 provisions that directly address fiscal risks, including guidelines on the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (Section 11), deficit thresholds (Section 12), fiscal-risk reporting (Section 19),
FRC’s ongoing initiatives were presented to the IMF team, including:
Monitoring implementation of the MTEF and annual federal budget.
Supporting sub-national governments in drafting fiscal-responsibility legislation.
Collaboration with the National Assembly on revenue hearings and enhanced remittance oversight.
Oversight of government borrowing to ensure alignment with FRA requirements.
Nationwide verification of capital projects.
Enforcement of audited-account disclosure by GOEs and MDAs.
Sensitization programmes to strengthen compliance with fiscal responsibility standards.
Challenges discussed included funding & capacity limitations that hinder advanced fiscal-risk modelling, inconsistent reporting by MDAs/GOEs, and the Commission’s limited financial and institutional independence.
To address these constraints, the meeting recommended:
Amending the FRA to provide for sanctions and grant prosecutorial powers to the FRC.
Clarifying the application of Section 12(2) to prevent abuse under emergency claims.
Building internal capacity for fiscal-risk analysis and scenario testing.
Strengthening inter-agency coordination and institutionalizing comprehensive fiscal-risk reporting.
In his closing remarks, Sybi Hida urged the FRC to pay closer attention to legal and capacity-related risks. He reiterated the IMF’s readiness to support Nigeria in enhancing fiscal-risk management practices and emphasized the need for frank disclosure of fiscal vulnerabilities.
The DMO was represented by Bartholomew Aja, Deputy Director, and Salisu Ahmed. The meeting noted the need to integrate the FRC into future Debt Sustainability Analysis processes. The DMO team affirmed its commitment to deepening collaboration with the Commission.
The meeting concluded with a shared understanding that robust fiscal-risk management—anchored on transparency, strong institutional collaboration, and data integrity—is essential for safeguarding Nigeria’s long-term fiscal stability.