ABUJA: President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a complete audit of all revenue generating agencies in the country as a cleanup measure and to make them more efficient.
Top on the list of the agencies are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigerian Communications Commission and the Nigerian Customs Service.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan had authorized the withdrawal of N67.2billion in cash from the Central Bank of Nigeria in the build up to the 2015 general elections.
The amount were said to have been carted away from the bank in bullion vans.
At his first Independence Day nationwide broadcast on Thursday, the President said the probe of the revenue generating agencies, including the CBN, became necessary following noticeable widespread corruption in the agencies.
“Preliminary steps have been taken to sanitize NNPC and improve its operations so that the inefficiency and corruption could be reduced to a minimum,” Mr. Buhari said.
“Those of our refineries which can be serviced and brought back into partial production would be enabled to resume operations so that the whole sordid business of exporting crude and importing finished products in dubious transactions could be stopped.
“In addition to NNPC, I have ordered for a complete audit of our other revenue generating agencies mainly CBN, FIRS, Customs, NCC, for better service delivery to the nation.
“Prudent housekeeping is needed now more than ever in view of the sharp decline in world market oil prices. It is a challenge we have to face squarely. But what counts is not so much what accrues but how we manage our resources that are important.
“We have seen in the last few years how huge resources were mismanaged, squandered and wasted. The new APC government is embarking on a cleanup, introducing prudence and probity in public financing.”
He said at the inception his administration in May, a number of problems were inherited and that he was aware that Nigerians wanted quick solutions not the resolution of the problems.
Mr. Buhari said he had, after consultations, got down to work immediately on the medium term and long term problems which must be tackled if his government must continue to enjoy the confidence of the people.
