Nigeria to generate N3.8trn non-oil revenue annually
…As FG gives nod to finance-boosting reforms
Abimbola Abatta and Matthew Denis
Nigeria is set to generate N3.8 trillion annually from its non-oil revenue as the Federal Government, on Wednesday, ratified reforms to boost the country’s finance.
Nigerian NewsDirect reports that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) equally approved reforms to improve the country’s oil revenue by N160 billion annually.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this while addressing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Akande, after the meeting presided over by the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said “Among several issues on the memos presented was the one by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning on Accelerating Revenue Moblisation Reforms which is a derivative of Federal Government’s Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative.
“The significant progress that has been made in that initiative includes the raising of the Value Added Tax (VAT) from five per cent to seven per cent and other measures since 2019.
“This particular initiative is something meant to address some of the fiscal challenges of the Federal Government as it is intended to raise Nigeria’s non-oil revenue potential.
“So, it is estimated that with the implementation of this reform, it would result in a potential additional non-oil revenue and oil revenue generation of N3.8 trillion annually for non-oil revenue and N160 billion for oil revenue,” he added.
Reacting to the development, the Lead Strategist of Nigerian Workforce Strategy and Enlightenment Centre (NIWOSEC), Dr David Kayode Ehindero, chastened the Buhari-led administration, stressing that the non-oil sector of the economy has not gotten the reimbursement as contained in the 2022 budget.
He stated that the reforms approved by Federal Executive Council (FEC) to shore up the non-oil revenue to N3.8 trillion will not go in line with the reality on ground in terms of implementation strategy.
According to him, “Today, the source of revenue generation from the non-oil sector is in comatose state as most of the manufacturing companies paying the taxes are collapsing due to high cost of production, but the Government has failed to come out with incentives to keep these factories working.
“The approval by the government has good intention but lacked the basic Economic decision to enhance advancement in the Sector.
“In the 2022 budget, about 65% of its projected aggregate revenue to fund the 2022 budget is to be sourced from non-oil means of taxation. So, how can you harvest these when companies are closing down as a result of Economic downturn?” he argued.
