The Nation Newspaper

Tag: leakages

  • Mining: Govt to save N32b from leakages

    Mining: Govt to save N32b from leakages

    The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a revenue mobilisation strategy that will help the Federal Government save about N32 billion from leakages in the mining sector.

    Minister of Mines and Steel Development Dr Kayode Fayemi revealed this yesterday in Abuja at the launch of the Revenue Optimisation and Verification Project.

    The minister, who was represented at the occasion by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Abdulkadir Muazu, added that 100 consultants have been carefully selected for the project.

    He said: “It is however regrettable that in spite of our good efforts, we still have economic sabouteurs in the sector who wish to undermine efforts of government by failing in their responsibilities to render to the Federation Account its share.

    “Indeed, leakages in government revenue remains a big challenge in the sector, which we are working collaboratively with other government entities and sector stakeholders to fix.

    “I am therefore pleased to announce that following the approval of the National Economic Council (NEC), we are today inaugurating a new model of revenue generation and collection in the mining sector. This entails the engagement of Professional Revenue Consultants who would work with our ministry’s mining officers to identify revenue leakages in the system.

    “The deployment of consultants became imperative considering the funding and manpower challenges of the ministry. The consultants would add value to the ministry’s efforts and contribute the much-needed technical expertise, while also working on a no-win no-fee basis thus costing us nothing upfront.

    “The Revenue Optimisation and Verification Project essentially seeks to confirm the adequacy of royalties’ remittances made by the various operators in the mining industry. They are mandated to collect and analyse data from 2012 – 2017 in the course of their work, thus giving us the opportunity to demand and receive accruals due to government from the referenced period. It would also ensure compliance of all operators to paying the correct amount in royalties to the government coffers going forward.

    “The Revenue Optimisation and Verification exercise will be carried out in line with the provisions of Section 17 of the Nigeria Mineral and Mining Act of 2007 which empowers the Mining Inspectorate Division of the Ministry to supervise and enforce compliance of laws and also section 43 of the Nigeria Mineral and Mining Act of 2007 which mandates mining operators to keep and supply records upon request by the ministry.

    “The primary functions of the consultants in collaboration with the Mining Officers will be data gathering, which will assist the Ministry in identifying revenue leakages and providing long term revenue solutions to sustain and improve the revenue yield. To this end, we have carefully selected about 100 consultants who met very stringent conditions, and are being put through extensive training before deployment in the coming days.”

    The Project Coordinator and Senior Special Adviser to the Minister on Revenue Mobilisation, Makinde Araoye, said the Federal Government targetted the recovery of N32 billion in 2018.

    He added that after the discovery by Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) of the N54b being leaked out of the system from illegal operations, the government was looking to regularise the informal players in the sector.

    Fayemi added: “According to the last report by NEITI, it discovered that about N54b is being leaked out of the system from illegal operations; so, we are looking at about N45b to N50b in leakages in the system, for this particular project, we have a target of about N32b.

    “The National Economic Council (NEC) actually approved this project for an initial one year, so this one year we expect to raise about N32b and the project officially kicks off today. What we are trying to do is regulate the informal sector of mines and steel, their are a lot of informal operators out there, this exercise is not only to raise revenue but to regularise the informal players in the sector.

    “We have some players that actually pay their dues but we will still have to check their books to ensure that everyone pays adequately. The law supports this programme that we are doing, so the law is clear that defaulters, the mining inspectorate office will send the enforcement to make sure they comply with the law.”

  • Skye Bank, Nasarawa partner to block financial leakages

    Skye Bank, Nasarawa partner to block financial leakages

    Skye Bank Plc and Nasarawa State government are partnering in the implementation of a biometric and verification  that would save the state N990 million annually from financial leakages.

    The bank’s Executive Director, Abuja and Northern Directorate, Idris Yakubu, who disclosed this at the weekend in Lafia while presenting the report of the biometric and verification to Governor Umaru Al-Makura, said the exercise would save the state about N82.5 million monthly.

    Yakubu said the report, when implemented, would go a long way in blocking leakages and save funds that can be applied to initiatives and ventures that will help create more job opportunities for youths in the state.

    According to the bank director, the recommendations in the report would be useful in the effective management of the scarce resources accruing to the state. “This project, Your Excellency, is a demonstration of the commitment of Skye Bank Plc in supporting the socio-economic development of Nasarawa State and the government of His Excellency, Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura,” Yakubu said.

    He gave the objectives of the exercise, which involved all workers of the state and local government areas, the state Universal Basic Education Board employees and pensioners, to include the verification of all persons on the state payroll, capture the basic biometric details of civil servants and workers including the pensioners.

    Responding, Governor Al-Makura thanked Skye Bank for a good job and promised that the report would be implemented to block leakages and stop wastages in public expenditure.

  • Edo tells Perm Secs to block revenue leakages

    The Edo State Government has directed its permanent secretaries and directors to block leakages and fraud in their Departments, Ministries and Agencies (MDAs) or face the repercussion.

    The government gave the order at a seminar on enhancing internally generated revenue (IGR).

    Head of Service (HOS) Jerry Obazele, who issued a communiqué at the end of the seminar, said top civil servants resolved to block all loopholes and increase the state’s IGR to cushion the effects of the dwindling revenue from the Federation Account.

    Obazele said: “It was generally agreed that there is an urgent need in Edo State to increase the IGR because of the dwindling receipts from the Federation Account and other external sources of revenue to it.

    “Permanent secretaries in Edo State, as the accounting officers of their MDAs, should take necessary steps to ensure that the revenue accruable to their MDAs are duly identified, collected and remitted intact into the government’s treasury. The permanent secretaries should take necessary steps to ensure that revenue leakages are blocked.

  • Dogara vows to block revenue leakages

    Dogara vows to block revenue leakages

    •Says economy’s distressed

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has vowed to block revenue leakages from Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).

    Dogara who spoke while he received the draft 8th Assembly Legislative Agenda from the Committee of Members and Experts he commissioned for the task some days ago, decried the situation whereby revenue generating agencies of the Federal Government hide under laws establishing them to withhold monies they generate.

    He said the House would debate the new legislative agenda next week and that the issue of revenue leakages would feature prominently.

    Dogara said even MDAs to retain certain percentage of the revenue they generate, there is need to review those laws in order to plug the leakages as most of them under-declare their earnings.

    He urged prudent management of the nation’s foreign reserve in such a manner that interest accrued are declared by the foreign fund managers which may be running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

    According to him, another key aspect that would be debated is the issue of donor funding with some of the committee members noting that between 10 and 17 percent of some ministries’ budgets are funded through foreign aids.

    The members said in most cases, the funds are neither reflected in the annual Appropriation Bill nor declared by the affected MDAs.

    Meanwhile, he said leaders must redouble their efforts if the country is to be rescued from its current state of economic woes.

    Dogara, who spoke yesterday while receiving a delegation of government officials, traditional institutions, business executives and politicians from Bauchi State lamented that the country’s economy  is in a state of ‘unmitigated disaster’.

    The delegation was led by the state House of Assembly Deputy Speaker, Nuhu Gidado.

    According to the Speaker, the challenges confronting the country have been well identified but finding solution remains the major challenge.