Govt probes banks over federation
revenue
MONEY deposit banks in the country may now face
investigation by the Federal Government over their activities concerning the
receipt and remittances to the Federation Account of taxes and duties from the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS)
The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal
Commission (RMAFC) Thursday said its committee on non-oil revenue on monitoring
of banks’ compliance recently discovered a wide range of irregularities by some
of the banks engaged in the collection of non-oil revenue for the Federation
Account from diversion of revenue collected to high Commission on Turnover
(COT) charges by the banks involved.
The RMAFC is the Federal Government agency charged
with the responsibility of among other things to monitor revenue accruals and
disbursements of federally-collected revenue to the three tiers of government.
About 21 banks in the country have been
contracted by the FIRS and the NCS to collect taxes and duties for government.
A special account is to be opened with the CBN where all recoveries made shall
be paid from where consultants engaged are also to be paid their relevant
professional fees and the balance remitted to the Federation Account.
At a press briefing Thursday by the Chairman of
RMAFC, Elias Mbam on the sore issue, he said the Federation Accounts Allocation
Committee (FAAC) following a report to it by the RMAFC has authorised it to
carry out an investigation of the banks’ activities beginning from January 2008
to June 2012.
Accordingly, Mbam said the commission in line
with due relevant provisions of the Public Procurement Act has appointed a lead
consultant, J.K. Consulting, led by Mr. Joseph Kayode Naiyeju, former
Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF) who was also one-time chairman of
the FIRS and 52 other consultants, including PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ltd, to
look into the activities of the banks throughout the country. The consultants
are expected to flag off their assignment on June 3, and to turn in their
report by August 15, 2013.
The action of the Federal Government is coming
on the heels of the startling revelation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
two months ago that its newly-established department of Consumer Protection had
within one year alone, recovered from money deposit banks in the country over
N6 billion being amount over-charged customers.
The discovery of these developments may
gradually be providing answers to pricking questions by industry watchers on
how the banks in Nigeria are making the bogus profits they declare in the face
of harsh global economic realities, particularly when the banks are not yet
doing much in their primary responsibility of assisting the private sector to
be the engine of growth.
Mbam yesterday spoke on the scope of the task
for the lead consultant: “Supervise and co-ordinate the activities of other
consultants; develop data capturing and reporting template; verify, reconcile
and ensure that the flow of revenue from collecting agencies from January 2008
to June 2012 is in accordance with the relevant agreements between the
collecting banks, FIRS and the NIS; produce a comprehensive report of all the
findings and recommendations.”
On the other hand, the task for other
consultants, according to the chairman of RMAFC, is: “cover allocated bank(s)
and revenue sources as provided by the Commission; reconcile the flow of
revenue from collecting banks to Lead banks; reconcile all transfers from the
Lead banks to the Federation Account in the CBN.
Others are: verify that the remuneration paid to
each Lead and collecting banks is in accordance with the agreement signed with
FIRS and NCS; submit comprehensive report of all findings to the Lead
Consultant.”
Guardian Newspaper
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