TETFUND, NEITI Collaborate To Close Revenue Gaps
By Lekan Shobo Shobowale
The Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Arch. Sonny Echono, has called for collaboration between TETFUND and the Nigeria Extractive Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to close gaps in revenue payments made by extractive industry to the Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Echono made this call during his working visit to the NEITI head office in Abuja on Wednesday. He remarked that he was at NEITI House to seek further collaboration with NEITI in the area of access to data, especially on what is accruable to TETFUND.
The TETFUND boss said that “there was need for clarity on tax compliance by extractive companies to ensure that they pay what they ought to pay, as well as revenue transparency on reporting to ensure that there are no gaps between companies’ payments and their disclosures to the FIRS.
“These pieces of information”, Echono said, “will enable TETFUND to expand its support for infrastructural development of tertiary institutions in Nigeria”; adding that TETFUND had confidence in the credibility of NEITI data.
In his response, the Director General of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji , said NEITI will support TETFUND in identifying and addressing gaps in compliance by extractive sector players, pointing out that by leveraging its expertise in financial auditing and revenue tracking, it would enhance accountability in the utilisation of education tax funds.
“To enhance decision-making, policy formulation and resource allocation to critical educational needs, partnership and technical support from TETFUND to complete the NEITI data centre would be a strategic investment”, Orji said.