*Salaries, pensions gulp N3.14trn in 2016 budget
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that government’s efforts at realising money from revenue-generating agencies to meet expectations of Nigerians were being hampered by “high level corruption” in some agencies, especially Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) which she described as “cohesive croocks bard to break.”
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that government’s efforts at realising money from revenue-generating agencies to meet expectations of Nigerians were being hampered by “high level corruption” in some agencies, especially Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) which she described as “cohesive croocks bard to break.”
The minister said the government is paying N2trillion as salaries and pensions, while debt servicing takes N1.4trn, all from 2016 budget, a situation which made it impossible to reduce 2017 budget.
Mrs. Adeosun spoke when she hosted the Senate Committee on Finance led by its Chairman, John Enoh at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.
On how revenue generating agencies are frustrating the government, she noted:
“Non-remittances by the revenue generating agencies is a big issue. We have done a lot of work on it. We are auditing about 31 of the agencies and what we found is very shocking, it’s very very shocking. That’s the only way to describe it.
“So, what we have done is that we have drafted a template with the Accountant-General and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, we are working together on allowable expenses for agencies.
“For example, is it acceptable for an agency to say, ‘I got N40billion on behalf of a ministry?’ We believe that it should come through appropriation, you cannot say that you collect money on behalf of your parent ministry. That is how they are circumventing appropriation and I think that really has to be stopped.
“So, there are so many loopholes which honestly, we can plug them, I think we will have a lot more money to work. And the friction between the civil service men and other agencies could reduce because honestly, there’s a lot of abuse.”
