From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
National Assembly Joint Committee on
Interior has lauded the Ministry of Interior for surpassing its budgetary target of N600million revenue from issuance of expatriate quotas in the 2023 fiscal year.
The lawmakers, who spoke when the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, appeared before them for the defence of the 2024 budget estimates of his ministry, commending the Ministry for raking in the sum of N1.195billion from January to October this year.
Tunji-Ojo, while briefing the lawmakers on the 2023 budget performance, stated that the Ministry surpassed its budgetary revenue projections on expatriate quotas and marriage.
He explained that in 2023, while N600million was targeted as revenue to be generated from issuance of expatriate quotas to deserving foreign firms in the country, N1.195billion had, as at October 31, 2023, been generated from it.
The minister also assured the parliament that the ministry has also come up with a project to ensure to protect Nigerian workers, as well as ensure that prisoners in other countries do not enter Nigerians as expatriates.
The project, according to him, “is Expatriate Employee Network ( EEN), primarily aimed at safeguarding jobs meant for Nigerians from been stolen by expatriates and also prevent expatriate workers from evading tax payment in Nigeria.”