The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, said it has uncover approximately N5.2 trillion sets through the Ministry’s Debt Analytics & Reporting Application.
The debts came to the spotlight from data aggregated from over 5,000+ debtors across ten (10) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The Director, Special Projects, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, Mr. Victor Omata made the disclosure on Monday in Kano during a sensitization workshop on Federal Government Debt Recovery Drive through Project Lighthouse Program.
Omata, represented by Deputy Director, Muhammed Se’idu said, in a bid to block revenue loopholes and increased revenues, especially from non-oil revenue sources, the Ministry initiated “Project Lighthouse”, which is one of the portfolio projects under the Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI).
“This initiative has enabled the aggregation of relevant economic and financial information from multiple agencies who hitherto did not share data”.
“Revenue loopholes have been aided by poor information sharing and enforcement”.
“Data from Project Lighthouse revealed that many companies and individuals who owe government agencies, have refused to honor their obligations were still being paid especially through the government platforms”.
“Debts are in the form of debt liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)”, he added.
Part of majors taken by the Ministry to curb revenue leakages according to the Director include; the issuance of a Ministerial directive on 26 September 2019 to all MDAS, with a view to aggregate all Government debt across the Public Finance space as well as to have a Single Window on the credit prorile.
Also, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) regulatory approval on Wednesday 31st March, 2021, to extend the functionalities of Debt RecOvery Capability of Lighthouse to enable the FMFBNP fully automate the debt recovery process and make settlements of debts as seamless as possible.
Victor, charge stakeholders on providing quality and relevant information (debt-related to support the Federal Government Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), in improving FG revenues by targeting and increasing revenues from non-oil revenue sources.