Stakeholders from different walks of life have queried the operations of Government-owned Enterprises (GOEs), including the passage of their budgets by the National Assembly outside annual national appropriations, and their breach of extant laws.

They urged Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, to call the GOEs to order.

The government-owned companies fingered included Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Federal Inland Revenue Service, and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The stakeholders? position flowed from the opening session of a two-day high-level interactive session with members of the National Assembly and heads of agencies, organised by the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, yesterday.

The event, themed, ?Strengthening Collaboration for Sustainable Financial Management and National Development,? was attended, among others, by ministers, members of the National Assembly, Head of Service of the Federation, retired and serving top civil servants, and high-ranking officials of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.

The tone was set by a former senator, and Presidential Adviser and Liaison to the National Assembly, Seantor Ita Enang, who presented the keynote address at the event.

Citing Sections 21 & 22 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, Enang stated that the Act provided that the budget of the government-owned corporations or agencies by whatever name called shall be submitted to the minister, who will cause same to be attached as part of the draft Appropriation Bill to be submitted to the National Assembly.

However, he frowned on a situation where such a provision was flouted by government-owned agencies, which submitted their budgets separately from the national budget presented by the president.

Enang stated that the budgets were also supposed to be considered and approved alongside the entire national budget and not approved separately by the finance/ appropriation committees.

He condemned the activities of the agencies, and said they now operated as if they were above the law.

Enang called on Edun and other supervising ministers to bring the government-owned enterprises under control.

During a panel discussion, Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, confirmed Enang?s concerns over the GOEs.

Uzoka-Anite stated that since she was appointed minister in 2023, neither the agencies under her former ministry nor the ones under her supervision in her current portfolio presented their budgets to her.

Alhaji Aliyu Ahmed also corroborated that, saying during his about four years stay as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, the GOEs did not present their budgets to the finance ministers.

Ahmed called for adherence to extant laws.

He expressed concerns about the operations of the government-owned companies, which always came up with high operational costs any time their revenue generation profile rose.

Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, called on the ministers to ensure compliance with relevant laws regarding agencies under their supervision.

Oyedele advised that agencies that failed to toe the path of existing laws by submitting to their supervising ministers should not have their budgets approved.

On his part, Enang urged Edun to rein in the GOEs as the coordinating minister of the economy.

Edun, who joined the interactive session virtually, expressed concern over the lack of single-source data. He regretted that various departments and agencies of government churned out different data, a development that affected Nigeria?s credit rating by global rating agencies.

Edun stated that the federal government planned to optimise assets and enhance resource mobilisation as a strategy to curb borrowing.

According to him, the Tinubu administration prioritises sustainable macroeconomic stability by aligning fiscal and monetary policies.

He stated, ?Our primary goal under President Bola Tinubu?s administration is to ensure that our fiscal policy remains strong, consistent, and aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria?s (CBN) monetary policy while remaining focused on maximizing national interests.

?This collaboration and cooperation, which I also see resonating at the Sustainable Energy for Development event I am attending, extend beyond government. It includes a strong partnership between the government and the private sector.

?Financial sustainability largely depends on a thriving private sector that delivers prosperity to the people. Through our collaborative efforts?particularly between the executive and legislature, and with support from the judiciary?we can refine our budget process by entrenching transparency and accountability, reducing waste in public finance management, and optimizing our resources.

?This optimisation will reduce reliance on borrowing, especially from expensive commercial markets. Instead, we will focus on leveraging assets and attracting private sector investments, both domestic and foreign. That is the kind of collaboration I consistently emphasize, and it remains central to our economic strategy.?

The minister expressed confidence in the administration?s economic trajectory, adding, ?Through our collective resolve and the use of macroeconomic tools, we can chart a course that will lift a significant number of our people out of poverty.?

Uzoka-Anite disclosed that the 2024 capital budget had performed above 50 per cent., saying by June, when its extension would elapse, it would have increased to 100 per cent.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, and his Senate Committee on Finance counterpart, Senator Musa Sani, called for greater collaboration between all arms of government for effective service delivery and development (THISDAY)

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