- NASS probes N4trn revenue shortfall due to indiscriminate waivers
There were strong indications on Monday that the Senate was on the verge of holding a public hearing on the Tax Reform Bills, with the aim of presenting them for a third reading and eventual passage.
This development was confirmed following a closed-door session of the Senate Ad-hoc committee and key government officials, including the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN); Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji; Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele; and Chairman of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Mohammed Bello Shehu,
The Senate’s Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Reform led by its Chairman, Abba Moro, was established in December last year to engage with the Federal Government on contentious aspects of the proposed tax legislation.
Senator Moro revealed that significant progress had been made.
“We have reached some agreements after thorough discussions with government officials. Our goal is to synthesize the entire process to deliver a law that meets the needs of all Nigerians,” Moro stated.
He expressed optimism that the committee would soon finalize its work, paving the way for the bills to be presented for passage.
“By the time we meet again, we will have a better story to tell,” he said.
FIRS Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, also expressed confidence in the progress made, indicating that previously contentious issues had been resolved.
“The so-called grey areas were discussed and clarified. We are now moving in the right direction, and there won’t be a need for further meetings. All issues have been identified, clarified, and resolutions have been made,” Adedeji said.
He affirmed that there was a consensus among all stakeholders on the necessity of the proposed tax laws.
“Everyone agreed that Nigeria needs these laws. Today, we saw the framework of the law come together, with the Attorney General, lawmakers, and operators all on the same page,” he concluded.
The committee’s efforts mark a significant step towards overhauling Nigeria’s tax system, with the reforms expected to enhance revenue collection and create a more efficient tax framework.
NASS probes N4trn revenue shortfall due to indiscriminate waivers
In a related development, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance on Monday set up a special panel to investigate a revenue shortfall totaling N4trn due to indiscriminate waivers granted to agencies of government.
The resolution of the committee co-chaired by Senator Sani Musa and member Abiodun Faleke was adopted at a hearing to investigate the revenue profiles of Ministries, Departments and Agencies and Government-Owned Enterprises ahead of the 2025 budget defence.
The hearing was to enable the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Finance to develop accurate and realistic revenue projections for 2025, with emphasis on internally generated revenue and expenditure.
The resolution to investigate the shortfall followed the adoption of a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District, Senator Adamu Aliero.
Drawing the attention of his colleagues to the development, Aliero said, “Due to the issue of waivers, there is a serious shortfall between what is supposed to be collected as revenue and what is actually collected.
“From our record, over N5.9trn was supposed to be the consolidated revenue fund of the federation. But we only have N1.9trn. We need to set up a special committee that will investigate this serious anomaly.
“We cannot continue to allow revenue agencies to be spending money without the National Assembly’s approval. If someone is given a waiver, we have to find out who gave that waiver. A shortfall of over N4trn is not a small amount. We found out that over N 4.9trn has not been remitted. We should set up an investigative committee that will probe all the money that has not been remitted.”
Co-chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Sani Musa, said the Committee was aware that a lot of GOEs collect revenues from other sources without disclosing those sources.
“Some of them did not even disclose this to the budget office. We’ve been able to get some of them, and we have done our scrutinization. You can imagine an agency collecting revenue from and failing to remit the same.
“Funds that are supposed to be remitted to the consolidated revenue fund are not remitted. I think from now on, we are going to block that leakage, and we will do the needful. We will scrutinise the expenditures of these GOEs because a GOE will collect 100% revenue, and in its expenditure, you see that it’s spending about 95% of that revenue it collected. This is the avenue at which we can find a lasting solution to those leakages,” Musa stated.
He further pointed out that President Bola Tinubu had while presenting the 2025 Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly, mandated heads of MDAs to respect parliamentary summons.
Musa, who represents the Niger East Senatorial District, threatened that any GOE that failed to give an accurate account of how its revenue and expenditure risks having a zero allocation in the 2025 budget proposal.
The committee also queried the Federal Road Safety Corps for failing to remit the sum of N8bn out of its total Internally Generated Revenue in 2024.
This followed the presentation by the Deputy Corps Marshal, representing the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, who said though the agency had a revenue target of N10bn in 2024; it generated N13bn.
The FRSC was unable to explain why only N5bn was remitted to the coffers of the government given that the agency is 100 per cent funded by the government.
“You had a target of N10bn but generated N13 billion, and you only remitted N5bn. You need to furnish this committee with details of the unremitted fund,” Sani directed.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, who made a brief appearance at the event, said lessons learned from 2024 formed the basis of the assumptions in the 2025 budget which he said, were designed to generate more revenue for the government and provide solutions for the economy.
He charged the GOEs to think outside the box to support the government’s bid to reposition the economy for the benefit of Nigerians.
