Senate queries FCT revenue agency over N1bn salary payment to 117 FIRS staff
Tunde Opalana, Abuja
Members of the Senate Committee on FCT were jolted by the revelation that 117 staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) draws salaries from the FCT for revenue generation services provided.
They were taken aback when the Chairman, Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Abdullahi Attah told the committee that the agency allocated a remittance of N1billion to Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) as commission from projected N100billion revenue collection.
Mallam Abdullahi Attah said this on Thursday while defending the FCT – IRS
N8.5billion 2021 budget proposal before the Senate Committee on FCT.
The agency had earlier appeared before the Senate Committee headed by Senator Abubakar Kyari ( APC Borno North), on Tuesday for the same purpose but told to reappear Thursday on alleged discrepancies in budgetary proposals submitted.
The FCT – IRS Chairman said the planned remittance as done on yearly basis, is for payment of salaries of 117 FIRS staff who are collaborating with the agency for aggressive revenue generation and collection.
” Out of the entire 130 operatives of the agency, 117 of them are from the FIRS who must be taken care of “, he said.
Irked by the submission, the Committee Chairman wondered why the agency since its creation about four years ago, has not recruited enough staff to drive its revenue collections.
” Are you saying that the N1billion remitted to the FIRS from the N50billion generated last year, was for payment of salaries of the 117 FIRS? Being a staff of FIRS, are they not on salary structure from the FIRS itself, and is that the reason why you are proposing the same in your 2021 budgetary projections? , he asked.
Other members of the committee like Senators Sani Musa ( APC Niger East ), Sam Egwu ( PDP Ebonyi North ), Smart Adeyemi ( APC Kogi West), and Tolu Odebiyi ( APC Ogun West), described the practice as unacceptable.
Sam Egwu said: ” The N1billion being remitted to FIRS by your agency is nauseating and must be stopped.
” If you don’t have enough men to collect the revenue for you, carry out a recruitment exercise for that purpose. Why must you be paying people who are already being taken care of elsewhere salary-wise? , he thundered.
Senator Smart Adeyemi said ” I’m disappointed in your very poor performance which is enough to throw you out of the window.
” Mr. Chairman, please give this man and the non-performing agency marching order “.
The Chairman, Sen.Kyari subsequently told the FCT- IRS boss and his team to take their leave while their proposals will be thoroughly looked into.
Speaking with journalists after the session, Mallam Abdullahi Attah said “as far as I am concerned, we have improved from what we met on the ground.
” For instance, in 2017 / 2018, when FIRS was fully in charge, N50billion revenue was the total collection, which was increased to N100billion in 2020 and even projected to be N130billion in 2021″.
