Foreign mission: Automate revenue collection in 60 days, Reps direct finance ministry, AG

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts (PAC) has given the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation a 60-day ultimatum to automate revenue collection in Nigeria’s foreign missions.

PAC Chairman, Bamidele Salam, issued the ultimatum, yesterday, at an investigative hearing on the status of Automation of Foreign Currency Collection in Nigeria’s foreign missions.

The committee also directed the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Sakirat, to furnish it with records of the gross revenue generated from all foreign missions in the last five years.

Sakirat had told lawmakers that a firm, Files Solutions Limited, was awarded a contract for the automation of foreign currency collection at Nigeria’s foreign missions.

The accountant general explained that the contract was awarded at N83.6 million in April 2021, for five years, noting that the firm is also entitled to a commission of between  1 and 5 per cent depending on the amount collected.

She said the terms of the contract is to ensure revenues from all the country’s foreign missions are collected online in real-time, as well as a multi-currency conversion web portal and multi-language web portal.

According to her, “the Automation of Foreign Currency Collection portal was launched on May 25, 2023, by the immediate past minister of Finance but was never put into use as of June 5, 2024.

“Our office is in the process of obtaining approval from the Ministry of Finance to deploy the software which has been tested. Discussion is ongoing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide a list of foreign missions for pilot purposes,” she said.

Nevertheless, members of the panel expressed displeasure over the delay in the commencement of the Automation of Foreign Currency Collection at the country’s foreign missions.

The committee chairman said: “I don’t know why we work like this as a country. We are a little bit strange people, what will improve revenue collection, a country that we fund with almost 60 to 70 per cent of borrowing and we are talking about improving our revenue collection and making them all transparent and effective.

“How can a country that borrows more than 70 per cent to fund its budget ignore the use of a solution that will enhance its revenue collection? We should all work together to improve our revenue. Things can not continue like this.”