Senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim, has advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create a Federal Ministry of Revenue.
This call was against the backdrop of the confirmation of 48 ministerial nominees by the Nigerian Senate on Saturday.
In a statement he issued on Sunday and made available to journalists, the lawmaker said the ministry, when created, would serve as a coordinating platform for all revenue-generating agencies.
It stated that Ibrahim advised President Tinubu on the need to create the ministry when he paid him a courtesy visit.
According to him, the envisioned ministry is indispensable for the nation to waggle 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 the Ministry of Revenue.
“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 had been sold to President Tinubu, who, according to him, saw the need for it in line with his pedigree on improved revenue generation.
He said the ministry would serve as one of the strategies through which the nation’s debt could be defrayed by serving as a window for improved revenue generation to fast-track the nation’s development.
“The nation’s debts of N77 trillion 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.
