Why the Senate is asking for a 'Ministry of Revenue'

The creation of a Ministry of Revenue in Nigeria would boost revenue generation in Nigeria as the Ministry of Finance is not giving the required mobilisation and coordination in this regard,

This was disclosed in a statement by Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim (APC-Ondo) on Sunday, adding that the ministry would serve as a coordinating platform for all revenue-generating agencies in the country.

This also comes after the President’s advisory council urged the merging of several revenue-generating agencies of the FG.

Revenue Ministry

Sen. Jimoh Ibrahim, representing Ondo- South at the National Assembly said the ministry was indispensable for the nation to liberate itself from the current socio-economic challenges, adding:

"There are many revenue-generating agencies in Nigeria today without a coordinating body or platform.

“The Ministry of Finance is not giving the required mobilisation and coordination in this regard, hence, the need for the Ministry of Revenue.

“In Nigeria over the years, we have the ministry of finance more or less playing the role of Bursar disbursing all the monies remitted into national coffers by generating agencies.

"But there is no Treasurer to keep proper records of revenues generated by the various affected agencies and give them the required impetus to generate more,” he said.

National treasurer

The Senator noted that the Nigerian Government needs a national treasurer that symbolises the role of revenue creation to the government, adding:

"Nigeria definitely needs a national treasurer to be symbolised by the federal ministry of revenue when created.

“The idea has been sold to President Bola Tinubu, given his antecedent and pedigree on improved revenue generation.”

He added the proposed Ministry would serve as one of the strategies to defray the nation’s debt profile by serving as a window for improved revenue generation to fast-track development, adding that Nigeria’s debt of N77trillion shouldn’t be a cause for worry considering the current debt to Gross Domestic Product(GDP) ratio of less than 31 per cent and it required innovative ideas of defraying it.

What you should know

Nairametrics reported last month that Tinubu’s Policy Advisory Council said the proposed merger of FIRS, Customs, and NIMASA is to enable efficient collection of taxes and levies on behalf of FG.

The highlight of the council’s proposal includes the removal of fuel subsidy, sale or concession of select government assets, transition to a transparent and unified foreign exchange rate system, deepening tax collection, and optimization of operating expenditure to reduce cost, among others.

The advisory council also proposed the extension of old naira circulation till December 2024 in order to resolve the cash shortage situation, if required