The House of Representatives yesterday gave the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) a seven-day ultimatum to reconcile its account or pay N13.3 billion into the Federation Account.
NEPZA however insisted it does not owe the Federation Account any money, as the amount being demanded was a miscalculation by a consultant engaged to look into its books.
The House Ad-hoc Committee on the Recovery of Unclaimed Funds Trapped in Commercial Banks between 2013 and 2021 issued the ultimatum at a public hearing in Abuja.
Chairman of the Committee, Uyime Idem, said it has given NEPZA more than enough time to reconcile its accounts and will not hesitate to force the Authority to comply.
He noted that the law required the agency to pay 80% of its Internally Generated Revenue IGR into government coffers.
The lawmaker said available documents in the Committee’s possession suggested that NEPZA was yet to remit N13.3 billion into the Federation Account.
The excess resulted from a circular from the Ministry of Finance mandating NEPZA to pay 25% of its operating surplus into the government’s coffers, adding that the N13.3 billion being demanded was not properly calculated.
Responding to the charge, the Director Finance at NEPZA, Dr Oyeshola Oyekunle, explained that within the period the agency remitted N3.92 billion into the Federation Account instead of N2.3 billion.
Oyekunle said the excess resulted from a circular from the Ministry of Finance mandating NEPZA to pay 25% of its operating surplus into the government’s coffers, adding that the N13.3 billion being demanded was not properly calculated.
He said the consultants that prepared the documents considered personnel cost as internally-generated revenue (IGR) and that he had made concerted efforts to meet with the consultants but they had always been out of reach.
The Committee adjourned ruling on the issue to Thursday, September 1.
PTAD accounts
In a related development the Committee also mandated the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), to present evidence of its annual financial reports between 2013 and 2021.
It also requested PTAD to provide treasury receipts stating the sums remitted or evidence of mop ups of unspent surpluses between 2013 and 2021, and any other relevant document. (NAN)
