The Senate on Tuesday passed the N152 billion 2017 budget of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Approving the report of its Committee on Finance, the Senate approved N75.8 billion as personnel cost, N46 billion for overhead and N31 billion indicating 20.33 percent.
The personnel budget of the agency increased from N51.8 billion in 2016, to N75.8 billion.
“This is due to the planned recruitment of 700 additional staff in 2017 and salary review by 30percent budget to approval by Salary, Wages and Income Commission,” the report read.
The FIRS has a projected revenue of N4.9 trillion in its 2017 budget.
The lawmakers also approved N270.5billion 2017 budget of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) which has a projected revenue of N288.7billion in the same year.
This is in addition to the approval of N161.9 billion for the Nigerian Maritime Admistration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) with a projected revenue of N161.9 billion.
Senate President Bukola Saraki who presided over the session, said it is necessary for revenue generating agencies to live up to their mandates.
This, he said, would reduce the need for borrowing by the Federal Government, adding that the Senate would do its part to ensure that the agencies live up to expectations.
He also expressed concerns about the extra-budgetary expenditures made by some revenue generating agencies.
The upper legislative chamber refused to approve the budgets of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), insisting that it would scrutinise the reports of the Committees on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions as well as those of Petroleum Upstream, Downstream and Gas.
Recall that in a leaked letter to President Muhammadu Buhari dated August 30th, 2017, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, had accused the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, of awarding contracts worth over $25 billion without board’s approval.
The Senate also asked the National Automotive Design and Development Council to stop further spending on capital expenditure until the Council appears before its Committee on Industries for budget defence.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
