The Federal Government is banking on the non- oil sector revenue generating agencies to meet its budgetary obligations. To this end, it has tasked the drivers of non-oil revenue agencies to deploy information technology tools in blocking leakage and waste in the system.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, gave the charge on Monday in Abuja at the 5th edition of the national treasury workshop organised by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation with the theme: “Nigeria’s Revenue Challenges And The Way Forward: Exploring Non-Oil Alternatives”.

Edun was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Lydia Jafiya Shehu. According to him, “in this year’s budget, about N14 trillion is for debt servicing. That’s not the issue. The issue is, you must generate the revenue. The onus lies on non-oil sector revenue agencies.

For us to generate more revenue, the onus lies on us to adopt information technology tools to avoid leakages and waste. “Several non-oil sectors have demonstrated strong potential for revenue generation, job creation, and economic transformation. It is time to explore these aggressively.

Let me highlight a few critical areas such as agriculture and agro-processing, solid minerals and mining, manufacturing and industrialisation, tourism and hospitality, the digital economy and ICT, tax reforms and compliance, etc.”

The government, Edun said, took note of challenges impeding the nonoil sector revenue sources, pledging that they would be addressed.

“While the potential of non-oil revenue sources is evident, several challenges impede their full exploitation. Some of these challenges include poor infrastructure and high cost of doing business, bureaucratic bottlenecks and regulatory inefficiencies; insecurity and its impact on investment confidence, low tax compliance and widespread revenue leakages.

“The government is already taking bold steps to tackle these issues through reforms in public financial management, digitalisation of revenue collection, and strengthening tax administration,” he said. Edun was pleased with the choice of the workshop theme, describing it as both timely and imperative.

“It underscores the urgent need to rethink our revenue generation strategies, especially in light of the volatile nature of oil revenue, which has long been the backbone of our economy but recently facing a downturn.”

“The recent global shifts in energy policies, declining oil demand and fluctuating crude prices have jointly made it abundantly clear that we cannot afford to be overly dependent on oil revenues.”