SEC, NPA fail to remit N28bn surplus — FRC

In spite of clear fiscal regulatory provisions that all federal government Ministries, Agencies and Departments must return their annual operating surplus to the treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, failed to remit a combined N28.27 billion of such surplus funds.

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission , FRC disclosed this while meeting officials of the two agencies in Abuja, yesterday and insisted that the regulation be complied with.

It said that the breaches were made in 2007 and 2008 by SEC which failed to remit N10.34bn in 2007 and N11.61bn in 2008 , amounting to N21. 95 billion.

NPA had less figures of N3.79bn and N2.53bn in 2007 and 2008, totaling about N6.2 bn.

“For year 2007, 80 per cent of SEC operating surplus was supposed to be N11,152,535,000 rather than N808,736,586,40 which SEC had earlier remitted to the Federal Government as 80 per cent of its operating cash surplus. SEC has therefore been unduly withholding the balance of N10, 343,798, 413.60 due to the Federal Government.

“SEC’s 2008 audited financial report indicated an excess of income over expenditure of N14, 506,368,610. Eighty per cent of this sum is due the Federal Government and should thus have been remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government before the end of April 2009.

“In spite of all the reminders that this commission has sent SEC, there is no indication that SEC has made this due remittance after these years,” the commission said, in a memo to capital market regulator.

The commission added that SEC had equally failed to forward its audited account to it in spite of several requests, an indication that the unremitted figure could be higher it the trend was maintained between 2009 and 2013.

“In spite of this commission’s various requests, SEC has not availed the FRC of its three-year estimates of revenue and expenditure for 2010 – 2012, 2012 – 2014 and 2013 – 2015. SEC has failed to forward to the FRC its approved annual budgets for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013″, it said.

Officials of the FRC said the problem of failure to remit operating surplus by MDAs would be addressed head-on.