By Elizabeth ADENUGA
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that the tenure of the heads of its key revenue generating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), would be performance based in line with revenue targets set out for them.
The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF),Mr Ahmed Idris, this in a statement issued by Mr Oise Johnson, Head, Press and Public Relations, Office of the AGFA, on Thursday in Abuja.
Idris said this when the President and Council members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), paid him a courtesy visit.
He also said that the Federal Government has approved the posting of treasury officers to these key revenue generating MDAs to serve as Directors of Revenue and Investments Departments.
Idris said that the officers were assigned to the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Others are the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
He said it was in line with the the federal government’s commitment to diversify sources of income, strengthen controls and boost revenue generation.
“Government is not unmindful of the level of revenue leakages in some of these key revenue generating agencies.
“It has come up with this policy that will ensure that treasury officers take charge of these revenues so that they can be tracked and accounted for using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and automation platforms.”
Idris called on ICAN and other professional accounting bodies in the country to support government’s efforts by coming up with more scientific strategies that would enable government generate more revenue and reduce the level of financial corruption in the public and private sectors.
He also said that the nation could only develop when there is continued growth in the revenue base and resources.
“The current situation where resources of government are dwindling owing to dependence on oil and graft is not acceptable and cannot guarantee sustained development.”
He, however, commended ICAN for successfully completing their pet project, the Accountability Index, describing it as a step in the right direction in institutionalising financial discipline.
Idris pledged the continued support of the treasury to ICAN and other professional bodies towards strengthening the public finance management of the country.
Earlier, the ICAN President, Mr Razak Jaiyeola, commended the AGF for the successful implementation of the various Public Finance Reform initiatives such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
He described it as a veritable tool for effective monitoring of government finances.
Jaiyeola also expressed the organisation’s appreciation to the OAGF for “the invaluable technical support” to the institute towards the publication of the inaugural report of the ICAN Accountability Index, released in October.
