The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has recorded exponential growth in its revenue to over N56 billion in 2023.
Speaking at a media engagement in Abuja, the Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Babatunde Irukera, stated that 90 percent of the Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) came by means of the payment of penalties by defaulting companies in the country.
“In 2023, our internally generated revenue is already N56 billion, and we have remitted to the government N22.4 billion, and for me, what this demonstrates is the real possibility of our country. Our possibilities are absolutely limitless.
“All our revenue, at least 90 per cent is from penalties. We believe that the market should be unlocked and businesses should be allowed to operate well, and should thrive.
“But we also believe in consequences of infractions, and businesses must be held accountable; if we don’t hold people accountable, we can’t promote good behavior”.
Irukera explained that before he took over the mantle of leadership of the organisation, annual income was about N154 million.
His words, “Prior to 2017, the FCCPC had a budget of N1 billion from the Federal Government. Of this amount, N511 million was the personal cost and salaries of 240 employees at the time. What was released was N796 million. Our internally generated revenue was N154 million.
“In 2018, the agency had a huge jump in the budget from the treasury and it got a budget of N3.3billion and that is the largest, of which N2.1 billion was released.”
He further explained, “In 2022, the government budgeted N1.3 billion for the agency, and N633 million was personal cost, but the agency didn’t touch a single kobo of the operational and capital votes.
“The only thing the government paid that year was salaries. In that year, the agency made N5.2 billion and remitted to the government the sum of N2.6 billion.
“By this time, we had indicated to go out of the budget because we could take care of ourselves. We went to the government and got approval to leave the Treasury, and so in December 2022, the government said starting from January 2023, we would be taken off the budget.
“2023 is our first year of being on our own, and now our personnel cost has hovered from N633 million to about N2.5 billion. Essentially, our personnel costs went up four times. We didn’t increase the number of staff, but salaries were improved,” he stated.