The House of Representatives says it will probe the shortfalls in oil revenue in Nigeria.
It says the Budget Office has estimated over N2.7 trillion revenue loss in 2023.
The chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Faleke, who made the disclosure during the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) session by the house of Representatives with government agencies, stated that shortfalls in government revenue has resulted in deficit budget over the years.
He explained that the shortfall has led to the government resorting to both domestic and foreign borrowing to implement its budgets.
“Our revenues have been reducing over the years due to decreases in oil revenues which used to be our major earner. The Committee has vowed to get to bottom of these oil shortfalls.
The NNPC, our oil asset managers, give oil theft as the main cause; however how are our marginal field operators performing vis a vis the various oil fields potentials?
“How much deductions at source from oil productions are occurring due to NNPC signed agreements over the years that are now impacting on our revenues?
Even in the light of these revenue shortfalls, the Federal Government is still losing revenue from various waivers and exemptions granted various organisations.
“In 2024 the Budget Office has estimated a loss in revenue of over N2.7 trillion. Is the Government getting the alternative benefits of these revenue losses? Is the Public getting value for money for these revenues foregone or is it just beneficial to a small set of well-connected people?” Hon Faleke said.
The lawmaker lamented that “continuous borrowing due to these budget deficits has ballooned our debt servicing payments to the sad situation where last year we spent over 95% of our revenues on debt servicing.
He noted that the parliament would ensure that the government gets value for money, in all agreements”.
He said, “The committee would not accept laxity on the part of MDAs saddled with the responsibility of negotiating on behalf of the government.
“The Committee has observed various factors that have caused shortfalls in expected revenues as well as charges to Government revenues from commitments by agencies of Government.
The Committee will not accept such laxity on the part of MDAs in not negotiating the best for the Country. The $ 11 billion P & I D fiasco is still fresh in our minds where the whole Country was almost held hostage to a fraudulent agreement.
“Another agreement signed on behalf of the Government by NBET and Azura Power has committed payments of over $30m per month. This agreement is dollar denominated and applicable even now in times of acute foreign exchange shortages.”
The Accountant General of the federation Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, while responding to questions said that revenue generation and collection is dwindling in comparison with the expenditures that are set against the money collected.
She stated that series of efforts are currently ongoing to shore-up revenues, plug the leakages and improve on the revenues that are being brought into the federation.
“In as much as the revenue would be in this position, the expenditures too has not also been helping matters, especially with the current economic reality, where prices of things are going up regularly”. She said.
According to her, the strategies to increase revenues must be worked upon on a continuous basis to ensure that there are funds to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
The Chief Executive Officer Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Mr. Armstrong Katang, said MOFI was designed to establish a federal government assets register that provides feasibility over federal government investment assets.
This he said would make government to know what it owns and what it owes.
“That information allows us to better optimize our investment assets, allow us to track the revenues that those assets ought to be contributing and are contributing to our revenue”. He said.
Other agencies are expected to appear before the committee as the session continues.
Olusola Akintonde
