The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Monday revealed that corporates, individuals, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are indebted to the federal government to the tune of N5.2 trillion.
Nigeria is expected to borrow over N5 trillion to finance its 2022 budget deficit.
Making the disclosure at the formal launch of the Project Lighthouse Debt Analytics and Reporting Platform on Monday in Abuja, Ahmed said the amount is owed by over 5000 debtors across 10 MDAs.
Out of that amount, the minister said, the sum of N53.5 billion has so far been recovered with the help of the Project Lighthouse platform.
“Sequel to the issuance of the Finance Circular, the Ministry through the consolidation efforts of the project, has been able to aggregate monumental debts of approximately N5.2 trillion. These debts came to the spotlight from data aggregated from over 5,000+ debtors across ten (10) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).”
In her goodwill message, Chairman, Carter Consulting, Mrs Fatima Mede said that with Nigeria’s revenue challenge, there is need to be able to properly account for whatever comes into government coffers.
Mrs. Mede noted for the project to work successfully, all hands must be on deck.
