FG strengthens domestic revenue framework to finance development

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s domestic revenue mobilisation framework, saying the country cannot sustainably finance its development through external resources alone.

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The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, stated this while declaring open a workshop on strengthening fiscal capacity at the subnational level on Thursday.

The workshop was organised under the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) programme by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Abuja.

The workshop brought together key stakeholders in Nigeria’s revenue ecosystem, including representatives of revenue institutions, development partners, and a delegation from the Federal Republic of Ethiopia on a peer review visit to Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, Mr Oyedele said the forum provided an important platform to rethink the future of development financing in Nigeria and across Africa.

He stressed that no country can rely indefinitely on external funding to achieve sustainable development, adding that the federal government has continued to implement reforms to expand domestic resource mobilisation.

“The financial architecture that we have built will continue to grow stronger,” the minister said.

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Mr Oyedele also reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda 2030 and expressed the country’s readiness to deepen partnerships with the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and other development partners to mobilise resources for sustainable growth and improved prosperity for citizens.

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Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board (JRB), Olusegun Adesokan, called for greater autonomy for subnational revenue authorities, saying it is essential to improving domestic resource mobilisation and financing sustainable development at the state level.

According to Mr Adesokan, states that have granted full autonomy to their internal revenue services have consistently recorded significant year-on-year growth in internally generated revenue (IGR).

“The law clearly provides a framework for the autonomy of revenue authorities. Therefore, state revenue authorities should be granted full autonomy to effectively drive domestic resource mobilisation at the subnational level,” he said.