FG eyes non-oil sector for more revenues

The Federal Government has charged the newly inaugurated members of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation And Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to mobilise funds from the non-oil sector.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, made the appeal during the inauguration of chairmen and members of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) and Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) as well as the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation And Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja.

In May, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had announced that the nation’s oil revenue target fell by N125.52 billion in the first quarter to N940.91 billion.She had attributed the shortfall to the twin problem of the COVID-19 pandemic and slump in oil price at the international market.

But data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that inflation hit a two-year high at 12.34 per cent.The World Bank, in May, also predicted that the most populous nation was heading for a recession.

Speaking to State House correspondents after the event attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Kwara Governor Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman; Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari; and ministers, Mustapha urged the appointees to approach their assignments seriously to deliver the Next Level agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Mustapha said: “Basically, they have some constitutional responsibilities because all these commissions are mentioned in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and so that presupposes that the constitution has provided for them a mandate. More especially as we are notching towards the end of the President’s tenure.

“We have just spent a year, and we have three years to go. But there are so many things that we want them to begin to do in terms of reenergizing the system.
“The Federal Character Commission, particularly, has the duty to ensure equitable distribution of not only offices, but also cater for the welfare of the people.”

“The RMAFC is very critical, particularly now that we have very serious shortfall in our earnings. The essence of the revenue mobilisation is to look at the non-oil sector, particularly in terms of mobilising revenue for the country. I believe that now that they have full compliment of their membership, they should be able to give it the necessary drive.”

“The Federal Character Commission (FCC) is an institution that has the responsibility of looking at the federal civil service in terms of employment, promotion, capacity, and we need a new civil service to take us to the next level,’ he added.