George Mgbeleke
Ahead of Cabinet formation with assignment of portfolios to the 48 Ministerial nominees awaiting Senate confirmations , strong advice for creation of Ministry of Revenue , has been made to President Bola Tinubu .
Advice for creation of Revenue Ministry was made to President Tinubu penultimate week by Senator Jimoh Ibrahim ( APC Ondo South ) when he paid the President a courtesy visit.
Explaining the urgent need for the Ministry in Nigeria in a personally signed statement on Sunday, Senator Ibrahim said the Ministry when created , would serve as coordinating platform for all revenue generating agencies .
The envisioned ministry, according to him , is indispensable for the nation to wangle its way out of the current socio-economic quagmire.
” 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 Ministry of Revenue .
” Analogically , 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 .
” Nigeria definitely needs a national treasurer to be symbolised by the Federal Ministry of Revenue when created “, he posited .
He added that the idea has been sold to President Bola Tinubu who according him , saw the need for it in line with his pedigree on improved revenue generation .
He posited further that the Ministry of Revenue when created , would serve as one of the strategies through which the nation’s debt could be defrayed by serving as window for improved revenue generation to fast-track the nation’s development.
” The nation’s debts of N77trn shouldn’t be a cause for worry considering the current debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio of less than 31 percent and required innovative ideas of defraying it “, he added .
