EFCC To Work With FRC To Retrieve N1.2tn Operating Surplus Held By MDAs

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, has pledged to work with
the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) in retrieving about
N1.2trillion worth of operating surplus held by defaulting
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal
government.

The EFCC boss made the pledge when the Chairman of the FRC, Mr.
Victor Muruako and his management team paid him a courtesy visit to
the former at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja

Bawa, who promised that the EFCC will work with the FRC in
blocking budget leakages, said recovery of the said N1.2trillion
will go a long way to shore up revenues for use by government for
public service delivery.

A statement by the FRC head of Strategic Communications, Mr.
Bede Anyanwu, said the EFCC helmsman was reacting to a disclosure
by Muruako, who noted that while the FRC has recorded significant
gains in blocking wastages in public finance management, about
N1.2trillion has remained in the hands of defaulting MDAs who have
applied different means, including smart accounting, to deny
payment to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal
government.

Muruako identified the absence of enforcement powers in the
Commission’s enabling law as a major weakness, hampering its
efforts in enforcing fiscal transparency among agencies of
government, and requested the intervention of the EFCC to enable it
achieve its mandate.

“The FRC recognises that we can hardly achieve our key aim and
objective of ensuring the long term stability of the nation’s
economy without the assistance of your commission. For one, we
believe that the credibility of the economic system in Nigeria is a
prerequisite for achieving economic stability and this is where
EFCC comes in,” he said to his host.

Muruako also urged the EFCC to revisit the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between the two agencies with a view to
expanding the frontiers of cooperation and collaboration. He
specifically called on the EFCC to assist in the training of her
personnel to improve their capacity to effectively police what he
calls, ‘blue chip government agencies’.

In his response, the EFCC boss, Bawa, expressed dismay at the
antics of some government agencies that consistently undercut
government in terms of revenue remittance. He advised the FRC
chairman to ensure that they beam their searchlight on the
activities of consultants who are used by MDAs to siphon government
funds. “There are a lot of leakages out there, while you are
monitoring budget, I will want you to pay a special attention on
consultants, all these Build, Operate and Transfer, all these
Public Private Partnerships. There is a lot of corruption embedment
in behind the scene deals”, he said.

Bawa assured the FRC Chairman that EFCC will work with his
commission to achieve the objective of securing Nigeria from all
forms of economic and financial crimes as well as providing the
necessary support and training to boost the professionalism of FRC
staff.

The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, has pledged to work with
the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) in retrieving about
N1.2trillion worth of operating surplus held by defaulting
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal
government.

The EFCC boss made the pledge when the Chairman of the FRC, Mr.
Victor Muruako and his management team paid him a courtesy visit to
the former at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja

Bawa, who promised that the EFCC will work with the FRC in
blocking budget leakages, said recovery of the said N1.2trillion
will go a long way to shore up revenues for use by government for
public service delivery.

A statement by the FRC head of Strategic Communications, Mr.
Bede Anyanwu, said the EFCC helmsman was reacting to a disclosure
by Muruako, who noted that while the FRC has recorded significant
gains in blocking wastages in public finance management, about
N1.2trillion has remained in the hands of defaulting MDAs who have
applied different means, including smart accounting, to deny
payment to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal
government.

Muruako identified the absence of enforcement powers in the
Commission’s enabling law as a major weakness, hampering its
efforts in enforcing fiscal transparency among agencies of
government, and requested the intervention of the EFCC to enable it
achieve its mandate.

“The FRC recognises that we can hardly achieve our key aim and
objective of ensuring the long term stability of the nation’s
economy without the assistance of your commission. For one, we
believe that the credibility of the economic system in Nigeria is a
prerequisite for achieving economic stability and this is where
EFCC comes in,” he said to his host.

Muruako also urged the EFCC to revisit the memorandum of
understanding (MoU) between the two agencies with a view to
expanding the frontiers of cooperation and collaboration. He
specifically called on the EFCC to assist in the training of her
personnel to improve their capacity to effectively police what he
calls, ‘blue chip government agencies’.

In his response, the EFCC boss, Bawa, expressed dismay at the
antics of some government agencies that consistently undercut
government in terms of revenue remittance. He advised the FRC
chairman to ensure that they beam their searchlight on the
activities of consultants who are used by MDAs to siphon government
funds. “There are a lot of leakages out there, while you are
monitoring budget, I will want you to pay a special attention on
consultants, all these Build, Operate and Transfer, all these
Public Private Partnerships. There is a lot of corruption embedment
in behind the scene deals”, he said.

Bawa assured the FRC Chairman that EFCC will work with his
commission to achieve the objective of securing Nigeria from all
forms of economic and financial crimes as well as providing the
necessary support and training to boost the professionalism of FRC
staff.