By Peter Obiechina
Hammer of the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services has fallen on some Agencies under its supervision for failing to remit the statutory 25 per cent of their internally generated revenue to the federal government coffers. This happened during their 2021 budget defence on Monday, November 2 at the National Assembly, Abuja.
Consequence to this, the Committee said, meant that it will not entertain budget defence from defaulting Agencies without proof of payment of the said 25 per cent of their IGR as demanded by law.
Worst hit by this development were the Medical Science Laboratory Council of Nigeria, Radiographers Registration Council of Nigeria, the Nigeria Pharmaceutical Research Institute (NIPRI) and the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board who were turned back by the Lawmakers.
Also at the receiving end were officials of the Dental and Medical Council of Nigeria who were turned back for appearing without their chief executive.
Those who scaled through were Nursing and Midwifery Registration Council, as well as the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research Yaba, Lagos.
Expressing his dissatisfaction with the attitude of managements of the affected healthcare institutions, the Committee Chairman, Rep. Yusuf Tanko Sununu from Kebbi State, frowned over the matter, insisting that MDAs are under obligation to remit their 25 per cent IGR to help the Federal Government in development.
Sununu: “Let us try to emphasize that revenues generated by MDAs are supposed to be remitted to the Federal government in their right percentage.
“With that the amount of revenue needed to finance the budget every year will be dramatically reduced. That is if all revenues generating MDAs remit what’s due to government in all honesty and truth and as and when due.
“So this committee will do its due diligence in looking at the revenues of agencies under our purview and ensure that the right amount is remitted before consideration for their 2021 budget proposals,” Hon. Sununu said.
In his defence, the Registrar and chief executive officer of Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria disclosed that the council’s IGR was used to offset the running cost – a position which did not go down well with the committee members.