FRCN Amendment Bill: CITN raises objection to transforming FRCN into revenue without… to Federation Account
…Opposes inclusion of tax practice as one of the competences of ICAN at House of Reps Public Hearing
The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has opposed the moves to turn the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) into a revenue generation agency without corresponding responsibility to transmit part of the amount generated to the Federation Account for distribution by the three tiers of government.
CITN also opposed the provisions that will enable FRCN to seal up offices and impose fines at will, prosecute fee defaulters, and appoint a Chairman without any fixed period of experience in accounting, among others.
The Institute’s submissions were made at the Senate Committee on Finance Public Hearing of Tuesday, 1st February, 2022 on the consideration of the Financial Reporting Council (FRCN) Act, Amendment Bill, 2021.
The public hearing into the draft bill for the amendment of the Financial Reporting Council Act, at the Senate, commenced on Tuesday.
Members of the finance, business and professional community are expected to offer submissions on this important piece of legislation during this phase; which would “among things, streamline the membership of the governing board as well as confer oversight responsibilities for financial reporting and corporate governance regulations in Nigeria on the Council, with a view to repositioning and strengthening the statutory functions of the council inline with normative standards for operational efficiency and effectiveness, and for related matters.”
The Lead Legal Adviser of CITN, Barr. Chukwuemeka Eze, who represented the Institute at the hearing “supported the Bill but opposed the purport to turn the FRCN into a revenue generation agency without corresponding responsibility to transmit part of the amount generated to the Federation account for distribution by the three tiers of government.
Eze also opposed “the provisions that will enable FRCN to seal up offices and impose fines at will, prosecute fee defaulters, and appoint a Chairman without any fixed period of experience in accounting, among others.
It will be recalled that FRCN has for some time been mired in controversy including the removal of its Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee,following the controversies surrounding the Corporate Governance Code issued by the regulator.
The code, it was believed, led to the shocking retirement of the General Overseer of one of Nigeria’s most powerful churches RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Ironically Obazee was once a member of the RCCG. Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo is a member of the Church and served as a senior Pastor in the church just before he was elected as Vice President in the Buhari Administration. The then Minister of Trade, Dr. Okey Enelamah, a medical doctor and Chartered Accountant then the supervising minister of the FRC is also a member of the church.
The removal of Obazee was interpreted by analysts an an extension of the age-long feud between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).
Eze also represented CITN at the Public Hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Wednesday, 2nd February, 2022 in relation to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
He opposed the inclusion of tax practice as one of the areas of competencies of a chartered accountant, in violation of Section 1 of the CITN Act, as contained in sections 21 and 28 of the Bill.
Oracle News understands that the disagreement between ICAN and CITN stemmed from the misinterpretation of a 2015 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Terms of Settlement (ToS) between the two organisations. Consequently, CITN filed a suit before the High Court of Lagos State, seeking the following:
A declaration that the Memorandum of Understanding and Terms of Service both dated February 12, 2015 between the CITN and ICAN are valid, subsisting, and binding on the CITN and ICAN.
An injunction restraining ICAN whether by its agents, privies, assigns, or whosoever called, from repudiating, resiling from or acting in any manner or doing anything that is inconsistent with, contrary to or is a violation of the Memorandum of Understanding and the Terms of Settlement dated February 12, 2015, between the CITN and ICAN.
