A House of Representatives committee has given Oluwatoyin Madein, the accountant-general of the federation, a 60-day ultimatum to automate revenue collection in the nation’s foreign missions.
The House committee on public accounts also set a four-week deadline for the ministry of finance.
During its session on Tuesday, the committee, chaired by Bamidele Salam, questioned Madein about revenue collection by Nigeria’s foreign missions.
Madein explained that the previous administration had awarded a contract for designing a collection portal, which has since been abandoned.
Files Solutions Limited, a private firm, was awarded the N83.6 million contract to automate foreign currency collection in the nation’s missions abroad. The contract included a commission of 1-5 percent, depending on the amount collected.
Madein stated that 90 percent of the contract sum was paid, and the work was completed.
“The automation of the foreign currency collection portal was launched on May 25, 2023, by the immediate past minister of finance but has not yet been put into use,” she said.
“Our office is in the process of obtaining approval from the ministry of finance to deploy the software, which has been tested. Discussions are ongoing with the ministry of foreign affairs to provide a list of foreign missions for pilot purposes.”
Nekan Olateru, managing director of Files Solutions Limited, informed the lawmakers that the company had completed all processes on the technology in the last three years.
Following presentations by Madein and Olateru, committee member Sunday Umeha moved a motion for the ministry of finance, the ministry of foreign affairs, and the accountant-general to start using the automated platform for revenue collection within 60 days.
The motion was seconded and unanimously adopted by the committee members.
Consequently, the panel asked the accountant-general to provide records of the gross revenue generated by the nation’s foreign missions over the past five years.
