Nigerian federal lawmakers have raised concerns that despite the Federal Government surpassing its revenue targets, it continues to depend heavily on borrowings.
These concerns were voiced during an interactive session with revenue-generating agencies as part of the 2025-2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), organized by the Joint National Assembly Committee on Finance.
In their presentations on the 2024 budget performance and the revenue projections for the N49.7 trillion 2025 budget, several agencies highlighted their excess revenue for the 2024 fiscal year.
The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, reported that by September 30, 2024, Customs had collected N5.352 trillion, surpassing its N5.09 trillion target for the year.
For 2025, NCS projects a target of N6.3 trillion, with a 10% increase in the subsequent years, targeting N6.93 trillion in 2026 and N7.62 trillion in 2027.
Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), revealed that the company had exceeded its N12.3 trillion revenue target for 2024,
For 2025, NNPCL projects a revenue of N23.7 trillion to be remitted into the Federation Account.
Zacch Adedeji, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), also informed the joint committees that FIRS had surpassed its revenue targets across various tax components.
He stated that For Company Income Tax, the target was N4 trillion, but N5.7 trillion had already been realized, On Education Tax, while N70 billion was targeted, N1.5 trillion had been collected.
He says in total, out of a N19.4 trillion target for 2024, FIRS had already collected N18.5 trillion by the end of September, indicating that the target would be far exceeded by year-end.
Despite these positive figures, members of the Finance Committee, led by Senator Sani Musa, raised concerns on why the government continues to seek foreign loans despite the reported rise in Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs).
Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi Central) questioned what the Federal government is doing with the excess revenues from these Agencies in light of its persistent requests for foreign loan approvals.
In response, Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, acknowledged the strong performance of the revenue-generating agencies, but pointed out that total revenue was still below the budgeted amount for 2024.
He explained that a budget deficit was anticipated, and borrowing was done in accordance with the Appropriation Act approved by the National Assembly.
Edun emphasized that as the economy grows, the need for more resources increases, particularly for attracting Foreign Exchange through oil and gas exports.
The government, he said remains committed to boosting Foreign Exchange inflows and Foreign Direct Investment, while recognizing the progress made in revenue generation.
He noted that borrowing must be done productively, effectively, and sustainably to support investments in infrastructure, social services, healthcare, education, and safety nets for the most vulnerable populations.
In a separate response, Senator Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, reminded lawmakers that the borrowing plans in the N35.5 trillion 2024 budget were primarily intended to fund the deficit, which stands at N9.7 trillion.
Lawmakers also criticized the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) over an imbalanced Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement for Passport production, where a consultancy firm receives 70% of the proceeds while the government gets only 30%.
Senator Sani Musa, Chairman of the Committee, directed the Immigration Service to submit all documents related to this PPP arrangement before the end of the week for further scrutiny.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
