Reps order CMD: Remit N542m in three weeks

The House of Representatives has ordered the Centre for Management Development to remit a total sum of N542.4m to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federal Government within three weeks.

The House Committee on Finance said this is the total amount of revenue the CMD failed to remit between 2012 and 2018.

Chairman of the committee, Mr James Faleke, who issued the ultimatum at an investigative hearing in Abuja on Wednesday, warned that failure to remit all revenues due to the CRF within the stipulated time, the panel would either recommend that the agency be scrapped or the debt deducted from its monthly allocation.

Faleke explained that the CMD failed to remit N378.4m in 2012, N86m in 2016 and N78m in 2017.

He said, “Nigeria is in dire need of money. President Muhammadu Buhari needs money to fund capital budget. The money agencies generate is way more than what we borrow as a country to fund the budget. We give you three week to pay all outstanding and appear here with treasury receipts.”

The committee criticised the centre for spending all the revenue it generated within the period instead of remitting 25 per cent as required by the law.

The Managing Director of the CMD, Mr Bitrus Chinoko, told the committee that the centre was ready to make amends. He said though he just assumed office, he ensured that the accounts were audited and the due revenue for 2019 was remitted.

Chinoko, who admitted that there was outstanding revenue yet to be remitted by the CMD, noted that the centre was running at a loss in Abuja.

He blamed the loss on lack of facilities as the centre had to resort to hiring hotel facilities to conduct training in Abuja.

However, the lawmakers were not satisfied with the explanations and demanded that all outstanding revenues be paid within three weeks. Punch