By Oluwole Sanusi
President Bola Tinubu has recovered some N58bn from some 7,000 debtors. The recovery is out of more than N5trillion owed by individuals and corporations representing about 6 percent of Nigerian external debt of N77trillion, Irohinoodua was told
For the past eight years, Irohinoodua heard that the debts have continued to pile up with little effort to make debtors accountable.
More debts running into billions of money are expected to be retrieved in the few weeks ahead.
The debtors owed some 946 Minisries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) across the country.
Speaking on the recovery, the Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning (Special Projects), Victor Omata on Tuesday said the effort was in line with Tinubu’s policy of efficient and effective management of resources through blockage of waste and debt recovery.
He spoke on Tuesday at a Zonal Sensitisation Workshop tagged the “Federal Government Debt Recovery Drive through the Project Lighthouse programme.”
He said “You will recall that one of the key economic policy objectives of the current administration, as contained in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, is improving Federal Government’s revenues by targeting and increasing revenues from non-oil revenue sources.”
The event held in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Omata, who was represented by the Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs Bridget Molokwu, said that the N58bn was recovered recovered from 11 MDAs.
Speaking further he told the audience thay “Our policies and strategies are to leverage big data technology to help block revenue loopholes, identify new revenue opportunities, optimise existing revenue streams, especially non-oil revenue, and improve fiscal transparency.
He said in “ actualising this goal, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning initiated ‘Project Lighthouse,’ launched portfolio projects under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.
He said the initiative has enabled the aggregation of relevant economic and financial information from multiple agencies who hitherto did not share data.
“Data from Project Lighthouse revealed that many companies and individuals who owe government agencies have refused to honour their obligations but are still being paid, especially through government platforms such as GIFMIS and Treasury Single Account, due to a lack of visibility over these transactions,” he said
He said the ministry, through the consolidation efforts of the Debt Analytics and Reporting Application, has been able to aggregate monumental debts of approximately N5.2tn
“Out of N5.2tn aggregation, N58bn has been recovered from over 7,000 debtors across 11 MDAs, and the debt aggregation effort is still ongoing.”
He argued that the debts were liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service; refunds to the Government by companies that failed to deliver on projects for which payment had been made.
Tinubu recovers N58bn from 7,000 debtors, says Finance Ministry
By Oluwole Sanusi
President Bola Tinubu has recovered some N58bn from some 7,000 debtors. The recovery is out of more than N5trillion owed by individuals and corporations representing about 6 percent of Nigerian external debt of N77trillion, Irohinoodua was told
For the past eight years, Irohinoodua heard that the debts have continued to pile up with little effort to make debtors accountable.
More debts running into billions of money are expected to be retrieved in the few weeks ahead.
The debtors owed some 946 Minisries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs) across the country.
Speaking on the recovery, the Director, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning (Special Projects), Victor Omata on Tuesday said the effort was in line with Tinubu’s policy of efficient and effective management of resources through blockage of waste and debt recovery.
He spoke on Tuesday at a Zonal Sensitisation Workshop tagged the “Federal Government Debt Recovery Drive through the Project Lighthouse programme.”
He said “You will recall that one of the key economic policy objectives of the current administration, as contained in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, is improving Federal Government’s revenues by targeting and increasing revenues from non-oil revenue sources.”
The event held in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
Omata, who was represented by the Deputy Director in the ministry, Mrs Bridget Molokwu, said that the N58bn was recovered recovered from 11 MDAs.
Speaking further he told the audience thay “Our policies and strategies are to leverage big data technology to help block revenue loopholes, identify new revenue opportunities, optimise existing revenue streams, especially non-oil revenue, and improve fiscal transparency.
He said in “ actualising this goal, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning initiated ‘Project Lighthouse,’ launched portfolio projects under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.
He said the initiative has enabled the aggregation of relevant economic and financial information from multiple agencies who hitherto did not share data.
“Data from Project Lighthouse revealed that many companies and individuals who owe government agencies have refused to honour their obligations but are still being paid, especially through government platforms such as GIFMIS and Treasury Single Account, due to a lack of visibility over these transactions,” he said
He said the ministry, through the consolidation efforts of the Debt Analytics and Reporting Application, has been able to aggregate monumental debts of approximately N5.2tn
“Out of N5.2tn aggregation, N58bn has been recovered from over 7,000 debtors across 11 MDAs, and the debt aggregation effort is still ongoing.”
He argued that the debts were liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service; refunds to the Government by companies that failed to deliver on projects for which payment had been made.