Customs, Immigration Raise Alarm As Revenue Losses Threaten N17tr 2022 Budget

The Senate has tasked revenue-generating agencies to make N3 trillion yearly to reduce Federal Government’s borrowings and deficits in the 2022 budget.

While promising to be stricter in its oversight duties, it further charged the agencies to prevent wasteful spending.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, spoke in his address at the opening of an interactive session on the need to improve the federal government’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

He said revenue-generating agencies of government are capable of remitting N3 trillion yearly if efforts are made to cut down on wasteful spending.

He made the statement at an interactive session was between the Senate leadership and members of the Committee on Finance and Revenue Generating Agencies of Government.

Lawan said: “In 2022, the National Assembly assumed, and rightly so, that our government-owned enterprises could generate up to N3 trillion if we are of the mindset that we can achieve that and, of course, ensure that we oversight to stall any possibility of unwarranted expenditures by agencies of government.

“But that does not mean in any way that it is going to be some kind of investigation on what you do, but an encouragement of what you need to do. The Senate will be firm on generating more revenue. We will continue to insist because we believe this is one sure way of reducing our deficit and borrowing.”

Lawan explained that the drive by the upper chamber for more revenues to the coffers of government would enhance the economy and facilitate infrastructural development.

Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West), lamented that there were insufficient funds for the implementation of policies and projects captured in the 2022 budget.

He said for government to reduce and eliminate deficit budgeting, which has characterized Nigeria’s budget over the years, effort must be made to minimize borrowing to fund projects.

Revenue agencies present at the interactive session were: National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, Nigerian Postal Service, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

Others were the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Prisons Service, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), Federal Capital Territory Administration and Nigerian Ports Authority.