Reps Give SEC 21-Day Ultimatum To Return N45bn Unspent Funds To FG Or Risk Sanction

The House of Representatives has warned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to return N45bn unspent funds to the federal government account or face sanction.

The revelation came after the Fiscal Responsibility Commission dragged the SEC before the house committee for not responding to its report issued in 2022, where N45bn computed liability of unremitted funds was recorded against the exchange commission.

“We have written the SEC on December 20, 2022, intimating the commission of our computed liability for the period 2007 to 2021 and the said liability amounted to N45,01bn only.

“Up till now, we have not received any response from them. So, as far as we are concerned, they have accepted the liability and that is what we have recorded against the commission,” a representative of FRC, Mr. Bello Aliyu, told the committee.

Aliyu noted that since 2022, the SEC had not come up with any explanation concerning the unremitted sum.

He argued that by the law, the balance of any operating surplus should be paid into the consolidated revenue fund of the FG within less than one month of the statutory deadline for publishing any corporation account.

The Director-General, SEC, Lamido Yahaya, however, said that the commission had reconciled its operating surplus with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

He said, “I think if the FRC had done a little more work, they would have seen from the OAGF all the efforts that we have made to reconcile the surplus figure from 2007 when FRC came into being.

Chairman of the Committee , Hon. Bamidele Salam (PDP, Osun State) however issued an ultimatum to both agencies notibg that by law, the FRC is empowered to ensure that all government agencies and corporations listed in its enabling Act behave responsibly with regards to remittances and management of their revenues.

“I don’t know why the SEC is more comfortable with the Accountant-General’s office and I don’t want to insinuate anything, but I want to assure the FRC that from now on, all that will stop.

”We are going to ensure that all agencies make the FRC the major body of government that should ensure compliance with the provision of the Act,” he said.

The Chairman issued the ultimatum at the committee’s resumed public hearing on leakages of revenue accruals to the Federal Government.