A Bill for a law to compel the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control(NAFDAC) to remit all revenues generated by the agency to the Federation Account, within one day, is underway in the House of Representatives.

 

In that piece of legislation, exclusively obtained by Vanguard, the House seeks to, among other things, prevent the recurring yearly budget deficits, as a result of none or poor remittance to the government account, by agencies. Rep. Dachung Musa Bagos (Plateau-APC), is the sponsor of the Bill short-titled: 

 

“A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Agency for Food and Drug Control Act, 2004” and gazetted in the National Assembly Journal of 15th July 2019 for consideration on the floor of the House. Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, mandates all revenue-generating agencies of government, to pay what they realise through operations, to the Federation Account, to enable the government to meet its annual and quarterly fiscal needs. 

The Bill as proposed therefore, seeks to amend “section 13 of the Principal Act”, by “inserting a new subsection”, to say “All monies received by or on behalf of the Agency (NAFDAC), shall be receipted and shall be paid into the Federation Account, within 24 hours of receipt or the next working day”. 

 

National yearly budget estimates, since 1999, have always gone to the National Assembly, with deficits, hollow and sometimes unrealisable projections, because many revenue-generating agencies, have either underperformed or not remitted the revenue they generate to government accounts. The House is currently considering budget proposals of Ministries and the agencies under them. The exercise is expected to lapse in two weeks, then the Green Chamber will return to plenary and effect measures to shore up government revenues.

 

Earlier, both Sen. Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Senate President and Speaker respectively, had warned that non-remitting agencies and those who fail to defend their proposals within this month, will be sanctioned. President Muhammed Buhari who presented budget earmarks for 2020 on Tuesday, October 5 before a Joint Session of the parliament, has also issued a stern warning to all the agencies of the Federal government not to default in remittances. He has also mandated them to comply with the National Assembly October deadline.