The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission has written to 20 banks involved in the collection of taxes and duties on behalf of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Services demanding the payment of N12bn they failed to remit to the Federation Account between 2008 and 2012.
The Head of Public Relations at RMAFC, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed, confirmed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.
The agency, which serves as the watchdog for the Federation Account, also threatened to take action against five of the banks, which it accused of failing to cooperate with the consultants it hired to verify remittances to the account.
Mohammed said, “We have written the banks involved in the collection exercise. We have demanded for the remittance of the N12bn, which was identified during the verification exercise. Each bank has something to remit to the Federation Account.
“We have also written the banks that failed to cooperate with the verification consultants on the implication of their action. We believe that very soon, this will be resolved except they remain recalcitrant.”
PUNCH correspondent learnt that the actions that could be taken by RMAFC against the five recalcitrant banks include publishing their names and stopping them from further collection of revenues for the government.
It was also learnt that RMAFC could direct the Central Bank of Nigeria to enforce the deduction of any unremitted funds traced to the banks from their reserve deposits with the central bank.
The Chairman, Non-oil Committee, RMAFC, Rev. Ajibola Fagboyegun, had last week disclosed that ongoing verification of revenue collection and remittances had indicated that 20 banks failed to remit N12bn to the government’s coffers between 2008 and 2012.
The Lead Consultant, JK Consulting Company Limited, which was hired by the commission for the verification exercise, presented the report in Abuja.
According to Fagboyegun, the purpose of the exercise, which began in November 2013, was to improve the public finance system and ensure that all revenues collected on behalf of the government were remitted accurately and as at when due.
(Punch)
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