President Buhari tasks revenue-generating agencies on 2021 budget implementation

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Abuja tasked agencies of government saddled with generating revenue to work hard to meet their targets.

The President put them on the spot after he gave his assent to  the Thirteen-Point- Five- Eight-Eight trillion Naira (N13.588 trillion) 2021 Appropriation Bill and the 2020 Finance Bill.

According to him, “We are intensifying our domestic revenue mobilization efforts so that we can have adequate resources to fund the 2021 Budget.

“Revenue-generating Agencies, and indeed all Ministries, Departments and Government-Owned Enterprises, must work very hard to achieve their revenue targets, control their cost-to-revenue ratios, as well as ensure prompt and full remittance of revenue collections.

“Relevant Agencies are to ensure the realization of our crude oil production and export targets.

“Heads of defaulting Agencies are hereby warned that they will be severely sanctioned.

“I also appeal to our fellow citizens and the business community, at large, to fulfil their tax obligations promptly “

President Buhari said he was delighted that despite disruptions occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, 2020 Budget implementation passed previous thresholds.

“In spite of the adverse impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the nation’s economy and the Government’s revenues, we have made appreciable progress in the implementation of the 2020 Budget.

“As of December 2020, we had released about One-point-Seven-Four-Eight Trillion Naira (N1.748 trillion) out of a total of the One-Point-Nine-Six-Two Trillion Naira (N1.962 trillion) voted for the implementation of critical capital projects, representing a performance of about Eight-Nine-Point-One Percent (89.1%).

“The overall performance of the 2020 Budget currently stands at an impressive rate of Ninety-Seven-point-Seven Percent (97.7%).

“This commendable outcome underscores the importance of our efforts, together with the Legislature, to return to the discipline of a January-to-December fiscal year.

“The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning will provide further details on the 2020 Budget’s performance, in due course,” he said.

The President gave kudos to the National Assembly for completing “the important appropriation process in good time.”

He said that “the passage of the 2021 Federal Budget before the commencement of the 2021 fiscal year is in confirmation of our resolve to maintain a predictable January-December fiscal year, as provided for in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”