By Our Report
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) – The Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday screened Abdullahi Saidu, President Bola Tinubu’s nominee for chairman of the board of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), alongside six other nominees.
The screening was presided over by Senator Lere Oyewumi, vice-chairman of the committee who represented Senator Sani Musa, the committee chairman.
During the screening, Saidu told the committee that the FRC had been without a board for more than 13 years, a situation he said had hindered its operations.
“The commission has not been without a board for more than 13 years now,” he said.
“So now this board, it’s like we are virtually going to start all over because there was nothing in place.”
Saidu said the commission was supposed to have offices in at least one location in each geopolitical zone but currently operated only from Abuja.
He pledged that, if confirmed, the board would work with the National Assembly and other stakeholders to strengthen the commission and improve its ability to discharge its mandate.
The nominee said the commission lacked prosecutorial powers and could only investigate cases before forwarding its findings to the Attorney-General of the Federation for prosecution.
“We were told we can only investigate and send our report to the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice for prosecution,” he said.
Saidu said the proposed board would ask the National Assembly to review the law establishing the commission to strengthen its independence and operational capacity.
He also pledged to improve government revenue by monitoring operating surpluses generated by government-owned and other scheduled organisations.
According to him, some revenue-generating organisations fail to remit the appropriate portion of their operating surpluses to the federal government.
He said such organisations were expected to remit 80 per cent of their operating surpluses to the Consolidated Revenue Fund while retaining 20 per cent for their operations.
“Because the commission is not informed, so they just declare whatever they feel they want to declare,” he said.
Saidu said the commission would strengthen its monitoring of operating revenue if the nominees were confirmed.
He expressed confidence that the board could improve the commission’s performance within a year, provided it received the necessary support from the National Assembly and other stakeholders.
Oyewumi told the nominees that managing the commission required specialised knowledge and preparation, noting that the assignment differed from other public service roles.
“This commission you are going to head, and you need a lot of knowledge that we don’t believe you have now, because you are just coming in from various backgrounds,” he said.
He urged the nominees to participate in retreats with experts and undertake extensive reading before assuming office.
Senator Osita Ngwu, representing Enugu West, moved a motion for Saidu and the other nominees to take a bow and leave the screening session.
Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar, representing Kwara North, seconded the motion.
The other nominees screened alongside Saidu were Muhammad Asma’u, Muhammad Makama, Suleiman Gidado, Louis Ndukwe, Amechi Ugwele and Olaniyi Onikola.
The committee is expected to submit its report to the Senate for further legislative action.
