From Romanus Ugwu and Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The Ministry of Interior has said that it generated N6.34 billion in 2024. This was revealed by the Minister, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, during a media briefing in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the revenue streams which contributed to this figure include, expatriate quota, N3.22 billion, marriages, N2.41 billion, citizenship, N392.79 million and places of worship, N12.35 million.
Tunji-Ojo said that the ministry’s revenue saw an increase of over 150% mainly due to the automation of payment processes which stopped revenue leakages and ensured that foreign applicants for Nigerian citizenship undergo thorough scrutiny before approval.
He said the ministry’s success can be attributed to the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Champions/Reform Team. “The ministry inaugurated Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) Champions/Reform Team who have successfully worked with Ease of Doing Business Secretariat (EBES) to harmonise and update records on the National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) reform initiatives which include: enforce service level agreement (SLA) for business permit application; enforce timeline for business permit application; enforce SLA timeline for expatriate quota (EQ) applications; enforce timeline for EQ applications, commenced full operations in the newly-established Federal Marriage Registries in the following states: Jalingo, Taraba State; Akure, Ondo State; Ibadan, Oyo State; Makurdi, Benue State; Asaba, Delta State and Uyo, Akwa Ibom State,” he said.
The minister also highlighted the implementation of the Performance Management System (PMS), an important component of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP2021-2025). This system aims to evaluate, manage, and improve employee performance, ensuring alignment with national goals. “The PMS is a framework used to evaluate, manage and improve the employee performance in alignment with the National Service and mandate while innovating means and measures to achieving ministry’s mandate also” he explained.
Agencies under the Ministry are the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Fire Service (NFS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Identification Management Commission (NIMC.) Tunji-Ojo said the ministry has been proactive in bolstering its workforce, recruiting 8,283 personnel into the NIS and NSCDC in 2023, and an additional 2,500 officers into the NFS in 2024.