The House of Representatives, on Monday, tasked the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali, on the need to ensure effective implementation of the Finance Act, 2021 with a view to achieving N2.5 trillion revenue targets, from its operations in 2022 fiscal year.
Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon James Faleke, gave the charge at the ongoing interactive session with heads of key revenue generating agencies on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), during which the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) accused Customs failed to render financial statement since 2018.
In his intervention, Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise, Hon. Leke Abejide who frowned at the paltry sum of N1.38 trillion proposed by the NCS authorities argued that with the devaluation of naira, the Service should activate relevant provisions of the Finance Act, 2021with a view to actualising the N2.5 trillion target and above.
He added that the N1.65 trillion approved for Nigeria Customs Service for 2021 by the National Assembly, while the exchange rate was N381/$1.
He said: “This is very ridiculous because now the Naira has devalued already so you will discover that the volume of money you’re getting if you want to get the real value you will see that it’s not a real improvement. So I expected the proposal to be from 2.5 trillion and above.
“So if you look at the value of the naira that’s going down, it needs upward review. So please take note of the parameters and secondly the Finance Act has been passed. There are so many ways we can get revenue now better than last year,” he noted.
In his response, the NCS Comptroller-General affirmed that the Agency has generated N1.2 trillion revenue as of July 2021, and working towards achieving N2.3 trillion revenue by the end of the 2021 fiscal year.
While speaking on the proposed N1.38 trillion revenue target for 2022, he said: “We came up with a figure that is realizable; then whatever comes thereafter, it’s our hope that we will surpass that. We try to be as realistic as we can in our proposal.”
However, in its response to the actual revenue projections allocated of Customs in 2020, the Budget Office of the Federation, who disagreed with the submission of the NCS Comptroller-General disclosed that the sum of N1.8 trillion was proposed for Customs for the incoming financial year.
While responding to a question on the multi-million naira subhead proposed for the provision of uniforms, Col. Ali disclosed that the Service provides four pieces of uniforms to each of the Junior Officers on yearly basis.
While ruling, Hon. Faleke who observed that the Budget Office of the Federation was saddled with the responsibility of knowing the gap in required funds and make adequate preparation for borrowing, expressed optimism that the spate of external and domestic borrowing will reduce if more revenue is generated into government’s coffers.
He said: “CG, the issue is this, what the Budget Office worked with is the figures available to them on paper. And at the beginning of the year, for results to be achieved they will like to see what’s coming in.
“We are saying no, that your gross revenue generation is low given all the available opportunities that you have when you also look at your previous performance 2020 to 2021.
“For us as a Committee on Finance, we will not accept the N1.3 trillion, I am sure by the time our report comes out, you will be pleasantly happy,” he stressed.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
FACT CHECK: MTN Nigeria Not Celebrating 20th Anniversary With N20,000 Cash, 5GB Data
CLAIM: A viral Whatsapp message claims that mobile telecommunications company, MTN, is giving out N20,000 cash, 5GB worth of data, and cars to celebrate its 20th anniversary in Nigeria.MTEF/FSP: Reps task Customs on N2.5trn revenue for 2022, reject N1.33trn proposal
MTEF/FSP: Reps task Customs on N2.5trn revenue for 2022, reject N1.33trn proposal
and then