The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on Wednesday charged the National Assembly to demonstrate more seriousness in its oversight role on revenue-generating agencies of government.
The anti-graft agency also condemned the practice of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies for their alleged mismanagement of public funds.
Speaking at the 2025 National Conference on Public Accounts and Fiscal Governance organised by the Senate and House of Representatives Public Accounts Committees in Abuja, ICPC Chairman, Musa Aliyu, called for tougher legislative measures to ensure that revenue generated and collected are timely remitted to government coffers by the provisions of the law.
“You see, the funny thing is that these revenue-generating agencies believe the money is their own.
But unfortunately, it’s not theirs. So please, intensify oversight so they’ll be held accountable and bring to the table whatever they collect,” he said.
Represented by the Director of Finance, Akporo Michael, Aliyu pledged support for the country’s fiscal policy reforms, particularly the recent tax legislation signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
“For the first time in our history, the government has taken the bull by the horns by reforming our tax system.
These reforms aim to increase our tax-to-GDP ratio to between 18% and 20% in the coming years,” he said, adding that this would help the country meet its growing development needs.
He said Nigeria’s low tax-to-GDP ratio of 7.8 per cent is among the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, noting that countries like Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt are recording double-digit ratios and reaping the benefits in infrastructural development and service delivery.
“Our budget implementation suffers every year because we do not mobilise enough revenue.
“Contractors in my office have been waiting for payment since last year. It is time to close the gaps,” he said.
He also lamented what he called the lack of openness in the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
He stated, “Saudi Arabia’s national oil company in the year 2024 posted a net profit of $106.25bn. Around the same year, you can do a good mix. How much does our NNPCL post pay? $2.4bn in 2024.
“These are players in the same league. Granted, Aramco’s capacity is higher than that of NNPCL. Their production on a daily basis is 9.1m barrels per day, while Nigeria in 2024 was doing 1.3m. We agree. So let’s assume that Aramco is producing 10 times that of Nigeria.
They made a profit of $106bn. If their capacity is just 10 times higher, what should be our net profit? At least 10% of theirs. But we got only 2.4%.”
The ICPC chair also called for the overhaul of Nigeria’s public sector salary structure, which he described as unjust and demoralising.
He urged the National Assembly to engage the Salaries and Wages Commission to harmonise pay scales in a way that reflects fairness, justice, and economic reality.
While applauding recent wins in Nigeria’s global corruption ranking, he noted that the fight must continue.
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