The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives has given the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) a three-week deadline to account for the N45 billion in unremitted operating surplus recorded from 2007 to 2021. The ultimatum was issued by the committee chairman, Bamidele Salam, during a public hearing on revenue leaks to the federal government in Abuja.
The FRC had previously reported the SEC to the committee for failing to respond to a 2022 report that showed a N45 billion liability for unremitted funds. The FRC representative, Bello Aliyu, informed the committee that despite writing to the SEC in December 2022, there had been no response, leading the FRC to assume that the SEC had accepted the liability.
The FRC Act mandates that any balance of operating surplus must be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government within one month of the statutory deadline for publishing any corporation account. However, the SEC Director-General, Lamido Yahaya, claimed that the commission had reconciled its operating surplus with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
Salam emphasized that the FRC is responsible for ensuring that government agencies and corporations comply with the law regarding revenue remittances and management. He assured the FRC that the committee would ensure that all agencies treat the FRC as the primary body responsible for ensuring compliance with the Act.
