Budget: GOEs Pledge Additional Revenue Target

By Oduyemi Odumade

Some Government Owned Enterprises, GOEs have pledged their commitment to surpass the revenue projections in the 2024 budget proposal.

The Government Owned Enterprises are the revenue generating agencies of the Government.

The Heads of the GEOs made the pledge when they appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu, last month, presented a N27.5 trillion budget to the joint session of the National Assembly with a projected revenue of N18 trillion.

However, the Committee on Appropriations consistently maintained that government-owned enterprises (GOEs) should generate more revenue than what is projected in the budget proposal.

One of the Head of the GOEs, Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Wale Adeniyi, while addressing the lawmakers, said the NCS has a projected 5 trillion Naira in revenue and could generate an additional 1trillion Naira if government lifts the suspension of duty on single-use plastic and increase the duty on alcohol and tobacco.

Also the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe said the commission is projecting a revenue of N5.6 trillion for the year 2024.

When asked about the possibility of increasing the projection, he said the upstream sector is currently facing multiple challenges ranging from oil theft, dearth of investment in the sector and challenges with host communities.

He stated that the Commission is seeking to increase Nigeria’s daily oil production by 300,000 barrels per day.

When pushed by the lawmakers on the actual figure, Mr Komolafe said the Commission can push its revenue target to N6 trillion.

Also appearing before the Committee, the Executive Vice Chairman of Nigeria Communication Commission, NCC, Aminu Maida said the commission is projecting N350 billion for the year 2024, of which N224 billion is to be remitted to the Consolidated Account.

Mr Maida explained that the NCC majorly generates money from spectrum licensing and annual operating levy.

He added that the Commission will launch a revenue collection App by the second quarter of 2024. Adding that the projection will help to increase the revenue of the Commission.

In his closing remarks, Mr Bichi said the committee is prioritizing revenue generation to support the programmes in the budget.

Edited By Oduyemi Odumade