Two-time ex-Chairman of Revenue
Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Engr. Hamman Tukur has
said that the bailout funds to State governments by the Buhari administration
were illegal.
Engr. Tukur who spoke to the
Economic Confidential in his office in Kaduna queried the rationale for such
disbursement, labelling it illegal.
“Buhari gave out a lot of money
to states recently in the name of bail out. Who gave him that money? How did he
get access to the Federation Account, or the authority to release that money?
Did he go through appropriation for approval? If he released the money before
it was approved, then it is illegal”, Tukur queried.
“In any case, who told the states
to be broke? Who stole their money? He (Buhari) should have asked the state
governors where their money was. Some people argue that the money used for the
bail-out was from the Nigeria LNG dividend. But, the Constitution is very
clear: all revenues of government must go into the Federation Account first
before anything.
“The only exception that is made
is written in the Constitution itself, and that is Armed Forces, including the
military, Police and Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Anybody or agency paying
tax to government for whatever description it should be channeled to the
Federation Account.”
Tukur recalled that RMAFC
rejected such move during the Obasanjo administration.
“Yes I think it was only when
Obasanjo asked for $5.3 billion to finance NIPP (National Integrated Power
Project) that the Commission said he cannot take it from the Federation Account
without recourse to the other tiers of government.
“We told him that if he wanted
any money, he should take it from the Federal Government’s share of the money,
and then go to the National Assembly for approval. We have to caution President
Buhari the same way we did to Obasanjo when he wanted $5.3 billion.
“When the Commission said he
cannot take the money, one day he had to send the then Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed to come and tell the
Commission that he wanted that money.
“I said no, the money does not
belong to me, but the Federation Account. What that means is that all the three
tiers of government that own the Account must be aware and agree that the money
be withdrawn for the purpose.
“Then the formula for sharing
between the federal, states and local governments would apply. There should be
no question of states staying somewhere to allocate what the local governments
want. This is wrong. The money in the Federation Account belongs to the
federal, states and the local governments. This is democracy.
“That is what applies to the
National Population Commission. If the Commission says one village is 200,000
people, before anyone can undo it and change that decision, it would pass
through a lot of processes.
“That is why one of the key
responsibilities of the Commission is to mobilize government revenue to the
Federation Account before allocating. It is total. Exceptions are clear, so
that no one can pretend”
“What that means is that wherever
any revenue has not been remitted to the Federation Account by any agency, the
Commission must ask questions. If any money must be released, the National
Assembly must be approached for supplementary appropriation”, he said.
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