LIVE UPDATES
The Federal Ministry of Finance has successfully recovered more than N57 billion from the N5.2 trillion debts owed by various ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government.
The Director of Special Projects at the Ministry of Finance, Aisha Omar, announced this during a workshop in Enugu.
She said the ministry could account for the official figure of N57 billion, adding that the debts were in the form of liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
Molokwu said the ministry also received refunds from companies that failed to deliver on projects for which payment had been made.
According to her, other refunds were unpaid credit facilities granted to both corporate entities and individuals by the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, Judgment Debt in favour of the government and debts owed Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate by insurance companies, amongst others.
She added that data from Project Lighthouse revealed that many companies and individuals who owed government agencies and refused to honour their obligations were still being paid.
“This was done through the government platforms such as GIFMIS and Treasury Single Account, due to lack of visibility over these transactions.”
She said the Federal Ministry of Finance initiated ‘Project Lighthouse,’ which, according to her, had enabled the aggregation of relevant economic and financial information from multiple agencies who hitherto did not share data.
