Saraki tasks govt agencies on IGR improvement
Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, has tasked government agencies to take Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR) seriously as it is the only way they can be productive.
Sen. Saraki made this known when board members of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN), paid her a courtesy visit recently in Abuja.
The minister, who was obviously very excited at the strides recorded within a year by the present board, said the ministry will do all it can to encourage the regulatory body in achieving its mandate.
She said that “to be honest, you seem to have achieved so much; I heard it all here, within just a year. That is absolutely incredible and it puts me under pressure so that when am doing my one year, I hope I can have as many achievements as you.
“One of the things that I think is very important that you said that pricked my ears is, you won’t be requiring money from the federal government; you’re probably the ones going to give. I think there is nothing better than for you to generate your money because, as you know, the amount of money agencies and ministries are getting, seems not to be enough.
“Therefore, it’s a bit frustrating when you are trying to achieve so much. So be able to raise enough revenue internally and use that judiciously, and we will do our very best to ensure that you are able to do that.”
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The minister also urged the body to be more visible, to organize trainings and accreditation for members, and to promote standard and best practices.
“It is a profession and it should be treated as such. And to treat it as a profession, you need to have some form of standard and the standard can only be set by the council; you set the standard and make sure of the best practices.
“You cannot affect the standard without any form of training, so if you set the standard, also provide training on how to get accredited or certified or whatever it is,” she said.
Earlier, the Chairman of the board, Abubakar Tsanna, said that within one year, the council has successfully employed a new registrar, relocated the corporate headquarters to Lagos and gotten approval for the collection of revenue from the federal executive council and has had it its gazetted for effective implementation.
According to him, other achievements include the successful interaction with Nigeria Ports Authority, customs and shippers council for effective and efficient revenue collection, the completion of 2017 and 2018 ongoing projects for the provision of office accommodation and facilities for operations nationwide.
Tsanna further stated that the council has constituted a special committee under the leadership of the council’s vice chairman to ensure dispute resolution and create harmonious working relationship between the staff and management that would ginger synergy and promote the progress of the council.
“Through the committees on MDAs, we were able to build a good relationship with various MDAs and indeed, achieved a lot of working understanding with them,” he said.
