Close observers of the activities of the House of Representatives would not be surprised about recent disclosure that the nation had lost about N1.5 trillion in unremitted funds by some government agencies, departments and statutory corporations. Speaker Dimeji Bankole had let the cat out of the bag when, while addressing the delegate conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, he disclosed the rip-off. The discovery is the latest feat in the lawmakers quest to institute accountability and transparency in the conduct of the business of government. Only a few months back, the House had, to the amazement of Nigerians, unearthed a whopping N450 billion unspent funds under past budgets. The discovery was the product of thorough processing of the 2008 budget which showed that although the huge money was provided for in the previous budgets with adequate cash backing, the funds were not spent. The result of the discovery is that the funds were recalled and captured in the on-going budget. Imagine what N450 billion can do in an economy that is suffering decayed infrastructure; in a society where the roads are at best death traps; in a country where schools and hospitals are crying for attention and the power sector is down. Then imagine that huge sum ending up in private pockets had it not been uncovered by the lawmakers.

What the House had done in unearthing the unspent funds is significant. It was the first budget to be perused by the lawmakers under the Bankole leadership. Yet it was the golden opportunity that they had been looking for to prove that transparency can afterall be instilled in government. And as Nigerians look forward to another thorough job on the 2009 budget, the lawmakers came out with the feat of uncovering the missing N1.5 trillion. Speaker Bankole is not a careless talker; so he couldnʼt have made his claim without adequate evidence. The speaker relied on the outcome of the public hearing on remittance/non-remittance of revenues by government agencies, departments and statutory corporations between 2003 and 2008 conducted by the House Committee on Finance. Now, many questions are begging for answer on the issue of the missing trillions. How did the funds get missing? What is the position of the constitution and relevant laws on revenues remittance?

The House Committee on Finance organised the public hearing after it become convinced that government was losing money because many agencies, departments and statutory corporations had not been remitting revenues generated by them into government coffers. The public hearing had in attendance key revenues generating agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN and Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, NIMASA, among others. There were also the ministers of finance, interior and the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ahmed Shamsudeen, General Godwin Abbe and Alhaji Modibbo respectively there. Facts and figures presented at the hearing showed that there are at least 200 federal revenues generating agencies, departments and statutory corporations operating in the country. Yet only a handful remit the revenues so generated. The impression that was inevitably created by the non-revenues remitting corporations was that they are covered by the Acts establishing them to keep the revenues they generate and spend.

The irony in the scenario is that all the corporations running expenses and capital projects are adequately provided for in the budget, year in, year out. So, what has been happening to the revenues they have been generating and spending?

There was no evidence provided at the hearing to show that the non-remitted funds were spent on government projects, thus leading to the conclusion that the funds estimated at about N1.5 trillion have simply been misappropriated. That appears scandalous especially in a situation where the nation needs every kobo that accrues to it to keep the business of government going and provide for the people the much expected democracy dividend. The non-revenues remitting corporations claimed that they are adequately covered by their enabling laws to spend their revenues without such revenues getting into government coffers. That will not be fair to corporations which do not have such legal backing as they are required to first remit all their revenues before getting allocations for their running expenses and capital projects.

Even then, constitutional provisions on revenues remittance by government agencies, departments and statutory corporations obviously contradict the laws cited by the non-revenues remitting corporations.

Sections 80 (1) and 162 (1) of the 1999 constitution are instructive in this respect. Section 80 (1) entitled, Power and Control Over Public Funds, says, "All revenues and other moneys raised or received by the Federation (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other public fund of the federation established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue fund of the federation." Section 162(1) entitled, Distributable Pool Account, echoes the position of section 80 (1), saying, "The Federation shall maintain a special account to be called ʽthe Federation Accountʼ into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the government of the federation, except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the armed forces of the federation, the Nigeria Police Force, the ministry or department of government charged with responsibility of foreign affairs and the residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja." The language of the two provisions of the constitution is clear to the extent that they do not exempt any government agency, department or statutory corporation from remitting revenues they collect into government coffers. But the enabling laws do as the public hearing by the House Committee on Finance showed.

However when viewed against the position of the constitution, it will appear that something is wrong with the non-revenues remitting corporations enabling laws as the constitution itself makes it clear that the constitution shall prevail in any situation where its provisions are inconsistent with any law. The corporations may have been legally keeping the revenues so generated by them and spending all the while but the situation probably would have been reversed had any concerned citizen taken the pains to challenge the enabling laws in the law court on the grounds that they contradict constitutional provisions .There is little doubt that judgement would have been entered in favor of such concerned citizen. What this presupposes is that the non-revenues remitting bodies enabling laws are faulty and need to be amended.

One, such amendment will remove the Acts conflicting provisions with those of the constitution. Two, the amendment will make it mandatory for the bodies to ensure prompt and full remittance of revenues accruing to them to boost Nigeriaʼs annual budget.

The chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. John Owan Eno, explicitly captured the whole essence of the corporations enabling laws review when he said it was borne out of the House desire to diversify governmentʼs revenue base and discourage the nationʼs current dependence on oil as major source of revenues. A national revenue summit will soon be convened by the House and into which inputs will be invited by all stakeholders to address the issue.

Akinmade is Special Adviser on Media to the Honorable Speaker House of Reps