President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday swore-in Mr Elias Mbam as Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
Mr Mbam was sworn-in on Thursday when President Buhari presided over the swearing-in event, which was held at the Council Chambers in Abuja.
Twenty-nine others were also sworn-in as members of the Commission.
President Buhari during the swearing-in charged the newly-appointed officials to to seek new ways of revenue generation and put a stop to leakages of government resources.
Below are top 8 directives handed to the commission by President Muhammadu Buhari.
As a Commission, the RMAFC are empowered by the Constitution to among other duties:
1. Monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account.
2. Review, from time to time, the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation and advise government on the need for any changes.
3. Advise the Federal, State and Local Governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue is to be increased.
4. Determine remunerations appropriate for Political/Public Office Holders.
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5. Make recommendations and submit findings by a report thereto to the government of the Federation or of the State, as the case may be, regarding the formula for the distribution of the Federation Accounts and the Local Government Accounts; and
6. Discharge such other functions as may be conferred on the Commission by Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, this Act, or any other Act of the National Assembly.
7. Concentrate more on expanding the sources of revenue to the Federation Account and other non-oil sources including solid mineral.
8. Use all legal ways and means to strengthen its monitoring mechanism and block leakages of revenue from the Federations Account. All relevant laws and regulations on revenue collections and remittances should be fully complied with and appropriate sanctions visited on defaulters.
While President Buhari congratulated the Chairman and members of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, he advised that the mandate of the Commission is very wide and has an important role for Nigeria’s economy.
He said that the Commission must be fair and just to the three Tiers and Arms of Government without compromising its core mandate.
The President reminded the commission that in his speech on June 12, Democracy Day, he informed Nigerians that his administration has laid the foundation for transforming the country and liberating its people from the shackles of poverty by putting policies and measures to integrate the rural economies to the national economic grid.
President Buhari noted that one measure by which liberating the people can be achieved is by extending credit facilities currently available to be able to encourage and support domestic production of basic goods and reduce our reliance on imported goods.
He (Buhari) said he has a target for the country to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in ten years, adding that this commitment is to further challenge the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to rise to its constitutional responsibilities and mandate.
President Buhari assure the commission that the government will continue to provide all the necessary support that will facilitate the achievement of its constitutional mandate. He called on the National Assembly to enact relevant enabling laws that shall guarantee the Commission the legal ability to ensure that defaulters of revenue laws are appropriately sanctioned.
