The House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation has summoned the representatives of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria ,CBN, and the Comptroller General of Customs for the defense of the 2024 budget.
The committee turned back the representatives and insisted that the CBN Governor and the Customs CG appear in person on Monday to answer questions related to the budget.
Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi, the chairman of the committee, emphasized the sensitivity of the budgetary issues, particularly concerning inflation, exchange rates, and revenue generation.
Bichi stated that the Comptroller General of Customs is also required to appear in person to discuss matters related to increasing revenue.
Several agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, NNPC Limited, Minister of Finance, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, National Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Nigerian Communications Commission, are expected to appear before the committee on Monday.
Bichi acknowledged the significance of the N27 trillion budget proposed by President Bola Tinubu for 2024 but highlighted the need for sufficient revenue to fund it.
The committee aims to address concerns such as infrastructure development, poverty reduction, and the implementation of the 8-Point Renewed Hope Agenda.
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The chairman emphasized the importance of optimizing revenue-generating potential from government-owned enterprises and the need for these agencies to present strategies to enhance revenue generation.
The meeting seeks to provide highlights on key issues, including strategies to address rising inflation, reduce Nigeria’s debt profile, allocate sectoral budgets, manage budget releases, implement economic diversification strategies, and forecast revenue generation.
The objective is to facilitate the enactment and effective implementation of the 2024 Appropriation Bill.
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