Only 23 states have fiscal responsibility laws – FRC

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) have urged all state governments to enact laws establishing federal responsibility laws to curb frivolous spending in their annual budgets.

Speaking during a study visit of Bauchi State Public Procurement Bureau (PPB) to the commission, the Chairman of FRC, Victor Muruako lamented that 13 states are yet to establish the fiscal responsibility law while only 15 states have fiscal responsibility agencies.

Muruako, who was represented by the Director of Admin, Muhammed Zailani, said it took the intervention of a federal government loan from the World Bank before states began making public their annual budget and audit.

The act is still novel in Nigeria and not a popular one, the law is not what people want to do but it tries to regulate unnecessary spendings and how finances are managed by various tiers of government. It is not something that is popular, that is why there is reluctance from states and local governments. So far, only 15 states have passed the law and set up their agencies. In total, 23 have passed the laws, which means 8 states have passed the laws but have not bothered to set up agencies.”

• Plans underway to insure public buildings – Minister
• Presidency committed to removing Nigeria from FATF grey list – Gbajabiamila

He stated that the vision for the law is to create an enduring framework for effective and transparent financial management in Nigeria in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the federal government and to reform the management of Nigeria’s public finances through regular monitoring of government financial activities, uncompromising investigation and public reporting, backed by a firm commitment to enforcement.

He added that the entrenchment of the law at the federal level has led to the reform of the budgetary process through the introduction of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), public participation in the preparation of the MTEF and the annual budgets, rule-based and transparent fiscal regime as against the culture of discretionary and profligate spending, over N2tr paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal government among others.