To unravel the truth surrounding the alleged sponsorship of terrorism in the polity, the House of Representatives has called on the Country Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to explain the usage of funds at its disposal between 2015 and 2024.
Also, the House, yesterday, commenced an investigation into the alleged non-remittance of a five per cent user charge on petrol and diesel, which is meant for road maintenance under the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) (Amendment) Act, 2007.
The controversial tax reform bills sent to the National Assembly in October by President Bola Tinubu were passed by the green chamber, yesterday. A correspondence addressed to the Country Director of USAID, Melissa Jones, dated March 10, 2025, and signed by the chairman of the House ad hoc committee, Victor Obuzor, demanded the full particulars of USAID external auditors and Certified True Copy (CTC) of audited financial statements and accounts from 2015 to 2024.
Besides, it demanded the CTC of the Management Letter arising from USAID’s Financial Statements and Accounts in the period and specification of USAID modus operandi from 2015 to date.
The ad hoc committee particularly enjoined the country director to tabulate the year, location operation in Nigeria, activity, total cost implication, actual cost implication, programmes/project delivered, and other information/current status, among other demands.
It is probing into the modus operandi of all non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in the country to unravel their real identities, sources of funding and what they expend their monies on.
The House, following a motion during its plenary on February 20, 2025, constituted the ad hoc committee to investigate the allegations against USAID by a United States Congressman on terrorism funding and all NGOs operating in Nigeria.
The lawmakers lamented that since the enactment of the five per cent user tax, the now-defunct Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) failed to remit the required funds to FERMA.
This followed the adoption of the motion moved by Frederick Agbedi (Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State), during a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen.
Agbedi recalled that in 2016, the Senate Committee on Works directed PPPRA to remit N634 billion to FERMA, representing unremitted funds between 2007 and 2015. He, however, said there was no evidence that the funds had been fully accounted for or disbursed.
The lawmaker further recalled that in 2019, the Senate mandated its committees on Petroleum Downstream and National Planning to investigate PPPRA’s failure to remit the funds, but no significant progress was reported.
He noted that the non-remittance limited FERMA’s capacity to maintain and rehabilitate federal roads, leading to the deterioration of road infrastructure, increased accidents, higher vehicle maintenance costs and economic losses.
According to him, PPPRA had justified its non-compliance by arguing that implementing the five per cent user charge would increase fuel prices despite the clear legal requirement for such remittances.
As of January 2025, he noted, there was no available evidence from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which took over PPPRA functions, indicating that the five per cent user charge was enforced or that the required funds were remitted.
Adopting the motion, the House resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to probe into the status of the five per cent user charge, including the outstanding amount owed FERMA and the officials responsible for its implementation, and report within four weeks for further legislative action.
The Nigeria Tax Bill, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill and Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill were passed after they were read for the third time at plenary presided by the Speaker.
The green chamber, last week, approved significant amendments to the proposed legislation after a clause-to-clause consideration of the bills as presented by the Chairman of the Committee on Finance, James Faleke.
The amendments approved at plenary addressed contentious issues such as inheritance tax, Value Added Tax (VAT) rate and distribution formula as well as the clause on continuous funding of TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA from the development levies fund. With the passage of the bills, the House now awaits the same action from the Senate.