Nine states yet to implement Fiscal Responsibility Act -Chairman

The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has said that many states in Nigeria are yet to implement the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

The Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Victor Muruako, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.

He said that some states had passed the law, but were yet to set up fiscal responsibility agencies.

“Some did not exactly pass the law, they just tried to have it, and even some that passed it just have it on record and are yet to implement the law.

“As we speak about 26 states have adopted the law and are at various stages of implementation.

“For some states, their Governors have not signed the law, some that have signed it into law are yet to set up the agencies, so as we speak it’s s a work in progress,” he said.

He said the domestication of the Fiscal Responsibility Act was necessary to promote prudence in the management of resources in states.

“When the need arose for the Federal Government to bail out states, there was an agreement of two conditions that must be met.

“Part of which is the need for the sub-nationals to engage in reforms; one of the reforms is to pass the fiscal responsibility law, Audit law, and Procurement law at their level,” he said.

Muruako commended the Nigerian Governors Forum for creating an enabling platform for peer review at sub-nationals.

He said that the Commission was engaging the Forum to ensure that all states adopt and implement the Fiscal Act.

“The forum has been a veritable forum to assist and they have done a lot to ensure that states engage in reforms,” he said.