According to the Federation Accounts Allocations Committee, as of June 2024, the amount of money that Revenue Generating Agencies failed to remit to the Federal Government’s coffers climbed to N4.1 trillion.
FAAC claimed that this was true even after the agencies reconciled their accounts and paid N94.96 billion in outstanding bills in May 2024.
According to The PUNCH, the initial sum of $36,329,376.24 (N51.88bn) and N2,977,561,881,021 recorded in May 2024 is still outstanding, while the unresolved amount is $165,067,714.53 (N178.52bn) and N3,917,340,180,696.84.
The most recent development was revealed in a report signed by Mohammed Shehu, the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission, and presented before the Federation Account Allocation Committee post-mortem subcommittee meeting.
According to a breakdown of the government-owed agencies, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited owes N940.62 billion, while the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and NNPC collectively owe $23.81 million and N1.94 trillion.
The Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria owing N48.75 million, while the Federal Inland Revenue Service and NNPC have outstanding remittances of $141.25 million and N1.04 trillion, respectively.
The PUNCH revealed two months ago that if revenue-generating organisations in the nation fail to balance unremitted funds obtained, the government may lose nearly N3tn.
The overdue funds were still being reconciled with the relevant agencies at the monthly reconciliation meeting, according to the Vice President of the Post-Mortem Subcommittee, who was in attendance on behalf of the committee chairman, Kabir Mashi.
The Federations Account, which consists of several accounts dedicated to a particular industry or kind of business, receives allocations from the revenues earned by the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
However, the chairman provided an update during the June meeting, stating that the total outstanding balance from the reconciliation meeting with the Revenue Generating Agencies in June 2024, which was held in June 2024, was $165,067,714.53 and N3,917,340,180,696.84.
At the monthly reconciliation meeting, he noted, the outstanding payments were still being reconciled with the pertinent agencies.
He went on to say that the income reconciliation was done by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The report read, “Outstanding Federation Account Revenue Arising from Inter-Agencies Reconciliation Meeting held in June 2024: The total unresolved amount due to the Federation Account from the reconciliation meeting held with the Revenue Generating Agencies in June 2024 was $165,067,714.53 and N3,917,340,180,696.84.
“Assessing the impact of the FAAC PMSC on outstanding arrears of revenue inflows due to the federation account.
For May 2024, the PMSC would like to inform the plenary that as a result of reconciliation with Revenue Generating Agencies, a total sum of $64,073,123.40 equivalent to N94,964,537,885.84 was reconciled and confirmed paid to the CBN designated accounts,” the report added.
The letter went on to say that in just five months, the government had recovered a total outstanding of N537.35 billion.
“The cumulative outstanding arrears reconciled and paid to the Federation Account from January to May 2024 stood at N537,353,864,835.67.”
“Members should note that these outstanding amounts are still being reconciled at the monthly reconciliation meetings between the agencies and the sub-committee. Furthermore, the sum of $180,230,895.02 and N2,535,352,533,190.87 outstanding payments from the Revenue Generating Agencies before June 2023, were referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the Sub-Committee awaits the outcome of the reconciliation soonest.
“The sub-committee is working with the Revenue Generating Agencies to ensure that the above outstanding amounts are paid to the Federation Account as soon as possible.”
In response, Shizzer Bada, the commissioner of finance for Kaduna State, expressed worry over the amount of unpaid income arrears that RGAs were accruing against the Federation Account, which was expected to reach trillions of naira by 2023 and 2024.
She consequently gave advice on the necessity of moving quickly to complete the reconciliation with the Agencies.
