House Seeks Direct Debit Payments of Utility Bills of MDAs

The House of Representatives on Tuesday said there was urgent need to establish and devise workable means of ensuring that Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the government (MDAs) pay their utility bills to the government through direct debit mechanism. This, it said, would ensure debiting the accounts of all MDAs at the end of each month in conjunction with the office of the Accountant General of the Federation. The resolution of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Kingsley Chima at the plenary. Presenting the motion, the lawmaker explained that the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is a major factor in the economic growth of every country and should at least represent 50 percent of the gross national income of an economy of a country to be stable. Chima said Nigeria relies on about 90 percent of Externally Generated Revenue (EGR) through crude oil as the source of the country’s gross national income, adding that that government also relies on payment of utility bills like water and electricity as a major boost to its IGR. The lawmaker expressed worry 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 IGR. Chima said investigations have revealed that the MDAs find it very difficult to pay their electricity and water bills, and when they do, they would pay peanuts after years or months of accumulation of bills. The lawmaker said: "We are conscious of the urgent need to establish and devise workable means of ensuring that MDAs pay their utility bills to the government through direct debit mechanism of debiting the accounts of all MDAs at the end of each month in conjunction with the office of the Accountant General of the Federation." He alleged that most MDAs even go as far as defending the payments of these utility bills during their budget defences, even when they actually owe the utility bills to the providers. Chima further stressed that the motion, therefore, called for a proper and the most convenient means of ensuring that the MDAs pay their bills without owing the providers.