Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, yesterday said the 10th National Assembly will empower the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to effectively carry out its statutory mandates.
Abbas, who gave the assurance while receiving the management of the RMAFC on a courtesy call in his office in Abuja, decried the commission’s battle with lack of adequate funding and infrastructure among others.
The chairman of the commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu, led the Federal Commissioners and other top management staff on the visit.
The speaker, who said he was conversant about RMAFC’s activities having served as a House Committee member on Finance for eight years (from 2011 to 2019), said he has been an advocate of additional powers for the commission.
The speaker stressed the need for the parliament to come to the rescue of the commission.
“One thing that you can take away from this meeting is that the National Assembly, this time around, will make the difference that you require,” he stated.
The chairman of the RMAFC congratulated the speaker on his emergence on June 13, 2023, saying, “Mr Speaker was one of the greatest advocates for the Commission.”
He said the review of the Act establishing the commission was for it “to be empowered more,” thereby “performing very well as it should perform.”
The RMAFC chairman said: “We need enforcement powers, better independence, better funding. We lack the funds to do the things that are mandated for us to do as a Commission.”
