The House of Representatives has proposed that deductions be made from source to settle utility bills incurred by Federal Government’s ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
At the plenary on Tuesday, the House unanimously adopted a motion moved by Mr Kingsley Uju titled ‘Establishment of a direct debit system for payment of utility bills by MDAs’.
The House mandated the committees on Appropriations, Finance and Public Accounts to interface with heads of the MDAs ‘to initiate a workable strategic plan to enhance the efficient payment of monthly utility bills of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies’.
Moving the motion, Uju said, “The House is worried that the MDAs are often accused of not paying utility bills to the bodies responsible for the collection, thereby making it impossible to remit the funds to the government, and this has adverse effects on Internally Generated Revenue.”
The sponsor noted that Internally Generated Revenue is a major factor in the economic growth of every country and should at least represent 50 per cent of the Gross National Income for the economy of a country to be stable
