Reps give Edun, AGF 60-day ultimatum to automate foreign revenue collection

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has given a 60-day ultimatum to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and the Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, to deploy the automation of foreign currency collection in Nigeria’s foreign missions.

The Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, gave the charge on Tuesday, in Abuja at the public hearing on the status of automation of foreign currency collection in Nigeria’s foreign missions.

The automation exercise is to facilitate the control generated by foreign currencies from embassies by the Federal Government.

Addressing the committee at the hearing, Madein said that Files Solutions Limited was awarded a contract for the automation of foreign currency collection at Nigeria’s foreign missions across the globe.

She added that the contract awarded on April 28, 2021, was worth a total sum of N83.6m, apart from a commission of 1-5 per cent depending on the amount the company can collect.

She added that 90 per cent of the contract sum, amounting to N75.2m has been paid to the contractor.

Mrs Madein noted that the terms of the contract are to ensure that the collection of revenue from all Nigerian foreign missions is online in real-time, as well as a multi-currency conversion and multi-language web portal.

She said, “The automation of the foreign currency collection portal was launched on May 25, 2023, by the immediate past Minister of Finance but was never put into use as of June 5 2024.

“Our office is in the process of obtaining approval from the Ministry of Finance to deploy the software which has been tested.

“Discussion is ongoing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide a list of foreign missions for pilot purposes.”

On his part, the Managing Director of File Solutions Limited, Nekan Olateru said that the company concluded all the processes on the technology in the last three years.

In his contribution, a member of the Committee, Timehin Adelegbe lamented what he called the lack of transparency in foreign revenue collection, stating that automation would address the challenge.

In what appeared a demonstration of commitment to get to the root of the issue, a member of the committee, Sunday Umeha moved a motion for compliance with automation within 60 days.

Following the adoption of the motion, the panel ordered the commencement of automation of foreign currency collection in Nigerian missions within 60 days, without an option for extension.

The committee further mandated the Accountant General to submit records of the gross revenue generated for all foreign missions in the past five years.