By Oghenero Orovwuje
A 3-day Retreat for members of Federation Account Allocation Committee post-mortem Sub-Committee has been declared open with a call on participants to expedite action to complete the exchange rate underpayments of over N300bn into the Federation Account.
The state Governor and Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic party (PDP), Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, declared the retreat open in Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba.
Okowa, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, commended the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), post mortem Sub- Committee, for enhancing revenue accruals into the Federation account, which benefited the three tiers of government.
Okowa stated that the retreat with the theme” Evaluation of Issues Emanating from the Federation Account, 2019-2021″ could not have come at a better time than now.
He said the theme is predicated on the mandate saddled upon the FAAC post mortem Sub-Committee to, among other things, carry out in depth analyses of the reports of revenue generating agencies as presented to FAAC during the monthly meeting.
The governor noted that as a result of the hard work of the committee, several refunds have been received by oil producing states of the federation, which he said include but not limited to the 13% refunds on withdrawals from excess crude, 13% refunds on subsidy, priority projects, Police Trust Fund, 13% refunds on subsidy and priority projects (2022).
He said these refunds and others being handled by the sub-committee, when received, will boost the ability of the federating unit to deliver dividends of democracy to the citizens of the country.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, FAAC post mortem Sub-Committee, Alhaji Kabir Mohammed Mashi, said the committee decided to organize the retreat for the period under review to improve transparency and accountability in the management of government funds.
He stated that the committee periodically carries out an annual retreat and programme with the aim of addressing specific issues bordering on the operation and management of the federation account.
Others, including the Minister of Finance, Budget and National planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmad, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Sylva Okolieaboh, stressed the need for the retreat to critically examine the causes, challenges, defects of subsidy payments and the way forward to improving the revenue contribution from the oil sector to the federation account.
They urged the post mortem Sub-Committee to also pay attention to economic activities of the oil sector regarding the crude oil production in barrels per day and redouble their efforts in realizing their mandate.
