Business
Buhari Cautions Agencies On Revenue Targets …Says Severe Sanctions Await Defaulters
President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that severe consequences await any revenue-generating agencies that failed to achieve agreed revenue targets.
The president gave the warning in his Independence Day address to mark Nigeria’s 59th Independence Anniversary in Abuja, yesterday.
He further warned that the revenue-generating and reporting agencies would come under much greater scrutiny so as to achieve the desired goals.
“With this, our revenue-generating and reporting agencies will come under much greater scrutiny, going forward, as the new performance management framework will reward exceptional revenue performance, while severe consequences will attend failures to achieve agreed revenue targets,’’ he said.
Buhari explained that he recently constituted an Economic Advisory Council to advise him on inclusive and sustainable macroeconomic, fiscal and monetary policies.
He said the Council would work with “relevant cabinet members and the heads of key monetary, fiscal and trade agencies to ensure we remain on track as we strive for collective prosperity’’.
However, the president stated that his administration was also committed to ensure that the inconvenience associated with “any painful policy adjustments, is moderated, such that the poor and the vulnerable, who are most at risk, do not bear the brunt’’.
Buhari assured that the government’s, ongoing N500 billion Special Intervention Programme would continue to target these vulnerable groups.
He said this would be achieved through the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, Government Economic Empowerment Programme, N-Power Job Creation Programme, loans for traders and artisans, conditional cash transfers to the poorest families and social housing scheme.
“To institutionalise these impactful programmes, we created the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development which shall consolidate and build on our achievements to date.
“To the beneficiaries of these programmes, I want to reassure you that our commitment to social inclusion will only increase,’’ he added.
The president also observed that the nation’s population growth rate had remained among the highest in the world, presenting both challenges as well as opportunities.
“It is our collective responsibility to ensure that we provide adequate resources to meet the basic needs of our teeming youth.
“Accordingly, we shall continue to invest in education, health, water and sanitation, as well as food security, to ensure that their basic needs are met, while providing them with every opportunity to live peaceful, prosperous and productive lives,’’ he maintained.
The Navy also recovered approximately 24,000 litres of product suspected to be stolen crude oil and dismantled facilities believed to have been established for crude oil theft in separate operations in the state.
A statement signed by the Director, Naval Information, Navy Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, personnel of the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Bonny, acted on credible intelligence about attempts by suspected criminals to establish illegal connections to oil infrastructure in the Bethel Community axis of Bonny Local government area.
Folorunsho said the operation led to the discovery of an illegal refining site, two pits containing approximately 24,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil and extensive hoses believed to have been installed to facilitate crude oil theft.
He said the intervention disrupted the emerging criminal operation before it became fully operational, denying the suspected economic saboteurs the infrastructure required to sustain their activities and inflict further losses on the nation.
In a separate operation, personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) PATHFINDER intercepted a speedboat conveying approximately 17,000 litres of suspected illegally refined AGO along the Onne-Okrika waterways.
According to the statement, the recovered speedboat and suspected illegally refined petroleum product were handled in accordance with established anti-crude oil theft procedures, while efforts were ongoing to identify and apprehend those connected with the illegal activity.
Folorunsho said the operations demonstrated the Navy’s sustained commitment to disrupting the illicit petroleum supply chain, denying economic saboteurs freedom of action and protecting Nigeria’s critical oil and gas infrastructure from criminal exploitation.
He added that the Navy would continue to conduct intelligence-driven operations under Operation DELTA SENTINEL to dismantle illegal refining infrastructure, combat crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, protect the maritime environment and safeguard Nigeria’s economic interests.
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