Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has received the Full Business Case Certificate of Compliance for the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC) project from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
“Non implementation of this project” according to Executive Director, ICRC, Engr Chidi Izuwah (Snr) while presenting the certificate said “caused a revenue loss of N2.5 trillion in 2017 and N2.1 trillion in 2018, we considered this a national revenue emergency and we gave it the needed attention and turned it around very quickly.
While receiving the certificate of compliance on Wednesday in Abuja, the minister said “the portal will help us control.
“It will help us to be able to tract and monitor the IDEC that we issue, but also to monitor the performance of the companies that we give this IDEC to and we will also be able to interface the IDEC system with the Nigeria Customs Service.
“it is really a good time for me that this project that I was really particular about since I came is coming to operation”, she stated.
While calling for the full implementation of the project when it is fully ready, Ahmed noted that the Ministry of Finance will have to get the approval of the Federal Executive Council before the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) of the project will take a full course.
She urged the Ministry to take full advantage of the IDEC portal and put it into full use to enable the Federal Government to get full value for its revenues, noting that we have been experiencing a significant drain in revenues due to the inability to adequately control the IDEC processes.
She promised to meet with the permanent secretary, special duties and the Accountant General of the Federation “to make sure that the account is not only put in place but put to full use.”
Earlier, in his opening remark, the Director-General of ICRC, Engr Izuwah noted that IDEC project is a very laudable one, which is considered as great and urgent importance to enable the country cut the huge revenue loses to the tune of over N2 trillion due to manual processes.
Engr Izuwah further noted that the Federal Ministry of Finance under Section 12 of the ICRC Act is required to diligently supervise this project and ensue that government realises full value, the interest of government protected and it reaps the full benefits of the project.
He added that on the other hand, the ICRC under Section 10 of its act is required to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Finance and regularly inspect the project and ensure compliance, that both the public and the private are doing what they have covenanted.
He also appealed to the Minister to help the Commission and the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) finalise on its discussion concerning the Special Concession Account, which according to him will be a huge opportunity to increase the revenue that is available to the government and block leakages.
and then