Tribune FG loses N58bn to fraudulent revenue generating agencies · Written by Gbola Subair - Abuja · Tuesday, 23 July 2013 02:04 The Federal Government has disclosed that it has lost N58billion to fraudulent revenue generating agencies, as it has also recovered N34 billion out of the missing fund. Though names of the culprits were not mentioned, the government, however, vowed to recover the remaining fund by all means. Speaking after inaugurating members of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) in Abuja, Co-ordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that government was on the trail of the other agencies, adding that it was devising other measures to ensure it got what was due to it. “I must say that we had to act because a policy where a revenue-generating agency is supposed to remit 25 per cent of gross revenues to the treasury and has not done that is not acceptable. And so we did meet with them; we pleaded with them and when we saw that this was not happening, we decided to move in quickly. You know we said we are looking for N58 billion. As at today, we have been able to get N34 billion. So, that is not bad and that was factored directly into our cash-backing for the second quarter capital. And we are still working. The Accountant General office is still working on this. And we will be taking other measures to make sure that the government gets what is due to it,” she said. On the GIFMIS and IPPIS platforms, the Minister assured that the platforms must be operational before the end of the year. “The president has said that these two systems, the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) both of them should completely be in place by the end of this year,” she said, adding that the IPPIS would enhance efficiency of personnel cost and curb corruption because so many ghost names had been found on the payroll. “On the IPPIS, I think most of you and most Nigerians are familiar with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This system is supposed to enhance the efficiency of personnel cost planning and budgeting by putting personnel beginning with all civil servants on a biometric data base that will enable us to pay people directly from the Accountant General’s office. instead of bulk payment of transfers to MDAs. It will enable everybody to be on this biometric payroll. As you know, it has already started and I want to use this occasion to thank the director and the staff who are implementing this,” the minister explained. The minister said that IPPIS enhanced personnel cost planning and budgeting as personnel cost would be based on actual verified numbers and not estimates, adding that about 215 MDAs, comprising 153,019 staff, were on the IPPIS as at January 2013 while savings on payroll clost to date was N118.9 billion. She said that work was ongoing to bring in other 321 MDAs no yet captured on IPPIS, noting that about 46,821 ghost workers had been identified so far. Also, Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) which was introduced in April 2012, she said, was aimed at improving the acquisition, allocation, utilisation and conservation of public financial resources by automating the systems. According to her, it was anomalous that in this day and age, government should still be carrying paper manually from one office to accountant general in order to manage finances. “We ought to be a country that has an electronic platform that does this. This is what GIFMIS is about. Again, already, it is under implementation and it is a joint platform between the Budget Office and the Accountant General’s office. And I want to use this opportunity to thank the Accountant General’s office and the Director-General of Budget on the way they have gone about working on this system,” she said. “Also, 58 per cent of the budget is now being executed through GIFMIS,” she said, saying that the government expected that by the end of the year, the entire budget would be executed through the system. For this, the minister said a high-powered committee was set up to implement the project. Member of the committee include, Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama ( chairman), permanent secretary to the Minstry of Finance, Accountant General of the Federation(AGF), Mr Jonah Otunla; Director General, Budget, Dr Bright Okogu, Mr Farauk Gumel, a partner in pricewaterhouse, Mr Bismark Rilwani who is a financial sector expert, Miss Angela Adeboye, who has helped the Delta State Government in implementing some electronic systems and Mr Tunde keyinde, member, co-onwer of Junia which is one of the electronic shopping platforms in the country.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 08:17:48 +0000
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