N1.343tn Non-Remittance: Reps Bounce On PPPRA

The House of Representatives has commenced the probe of an alleged non-remittance of N1.343tn Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the Consolidated Revenue Account by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Two members of the House, Reps. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta) and Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo), sought the probe, through a Bill under Matters of urgent public importance.

They argued that the non-remittance of the IGR into the Consolidated Revenue Account domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by PPPRA contravenes Section 162(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

They recalled that the Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze disclosed at a Town Hall meeting in 2018 with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) in Abuja that, the PPPRA is the worst culprit in non-remittance as it withheld operating surplus of over N1.34 trillion.

According to them, the alleged N1.343 trillion unremitted PPPRA revenue was part of its IGR which contravenes the Public Accounting Principle and the Treasury Single Account policy of the Federal Government.

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They noted that Section 22, Subsection 1 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 (FRA,2007) made it clear that, “Notwithstanding the provisions of any written law governing the Corporation, each Corporation shall establish a general reserve fund and shall allocate thereto at the end of each financial year, one-fifth of its operating surplus for the year” and such payments are to be made very year after preparation of Audited Accounts;

The lawmakers further informed that Section 22, Subsection 2 of the Act stipulates that, “The balance of the operating surplus shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal Government not later than one month following the statutory deadline for publishing each corporation.”

The lawmakers, therefore, urged the House Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to investigate the allegation and report back in 10 weeks.

The motion was adopted and referred to the relevant committees for further investigation.