National Council Devises Ways of Raising Revenue

Fri, Oct 17, 2014
By publisher
3 MIN READ

Business

Participants at the just ended National Council on Finance and Economic Development conference have discussed stronger ways of generating revenue for the government

By Maureen Chigbo  |  Oct. 27, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT  |

The National Council on Finance and Economic Development, NACOFED, ended its three-day conference in Enugu with participants exchanging ideas on stronger ways of generating revenue for government at all levels. The event which started on October 14, was declared open by Namadi Sambo, vice president. Sambo through his representative, O. Suleiman, minister of national planning, set the discussion rolling when he described the yearly event as a veritable platform for exchange of ideas on how stronger revenue generation and security challenges facing the country will be tackled.

The vice president said the federal government was ready to tackle its security challenges and explained that the country’s GDP was growing at a good rate despite the current dwindling oil prices. He urged all tiers of government to as a matter of urgency strategise and diversify their revenue base to reduce dependence on the oil revenue. Sambo also implored the states to work in unison with the federal government vision so to make Nigeria one of the great achievers by 20:20:20.

Namadi Sambo
Sambo

Sullivan Chime, Enugu State Governor, who was the host of the conference, speaking through his representative, Ralph I. Nwoye, deputy governor of the State, welcomed the participants to the coal city and assured them of their safety. He also commended NACOFED as one of the key bodies instituted to facilitate the growth of economic sector of the country. In line with the submission of the vice president, Chime emphasized that the mission of the states should be on how  to generate revenue on their own so as to help the country to achieve its economic vision of 20:20:20. He advised that what the states need was prudent planning, development of non-oil sectors and consistency to achieve a set goal.

Also, Timothy Order, chairman, finance commissioner’s forum and commissioner of finance, Ebonyi State, said that the event is an annual one whereby the stock of events for the past year were taken and decisions for the coming year made. He praised Jonnah O. Otunla accountant-general of the federation, for his relentlessness in making it possible to keep the account of the country intact through the introduction of IPSAS.

Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, minister of state for finance and chairman NACOFED, who gave the vote of thanks, affirmed the readiness to make revenue generation the bedrock and security challenges a foregone issue, adding that for a country to survive economically the two must be put in place and in check. He however, thanked President Goodluck Jonathan, for believing in him and his team and also thanked the accountant-general of the federation and the organisers of the programme for their dedication in organising conference, wishing them a fruitful and result-oriented deliberation.

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