By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said the main focus of the federal government is reducing revenue leakages so as to have enough funds to carry out critical projects for the benefit of the citizens.
The Finance Minister said this at the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Stakeholders Sensitization Workshop held in Abuja recently.
MOFI was established as a custodian entity for the federal governments’ investments in various business enterprises across different sectors of the economy in Nigeria and abroad.
Mrs Ahmed said apart from blocking leakages, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to attract more investments into the country through Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives (SRGI).
“As part of the Reform, Restructure and Reposition (R3) component of the #SRGI, a number of government institutions were selected for reform with #MOFI approved by President Muhammadu Buhari as one of them,” she said.
The Minister appreciated the enthusiasm and contributions of the various attendees which included members of the restructuring committee, heads of agencies, private sector representatives and representations from other Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) and Ministries of Justice amongst others.
In his presentation, the Permanent Secretary Finance and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on the restructuring of MOFI, Mr Aliyu Ahmed, explained that “since the establishment of MOFI under the MOFI Act of 1959, the MOFI Act has not been reviewed, updated or amended.”
Also, the MOFI Project Management Office Team Lead, Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, at the gathering, presented the findings and recommendations by the Restructuring Committee to all stakeholders.
It is worthy of note that there are over 60 companies left in the MOFI portfolio of FGN owned investments.
Since the establishment of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) many of the original MOFI companies were privatized. The proposed restructure and repositioning will allow for MOFI to transform into a world-class company, create and collate a national asset register, and ensure assets and investments are better managed, with a mission to maximize value for all stakeholders and Nigerians.
