Abuja — President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua finally presented the 2009 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly yesterday, with a firm promise to increase non-oil revenue, especially the tax take by the Federal Government.

He also announced a significant reduction in the overheads which had been a major drain on public purse for ages.

Noting that the non-oil sources contributed beyond expectations to revenue in the 2008 fiscal year, Yar'Adua said the administration would now lay more emphasis on increased revenue through tax.

He said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) would be "empowered" to be more efficient in tax collection - as would be expected of the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS) on duty collection.

He said: "The aggregate projection for Federation Account receipts in 2008 was N4.529 trillion. Oil-related revenue was expected to amount to N3.606 trillion or 80 per cent of this sum, while non-oil sources of revenue were to account for the balance of N923 billion or 20 per cent. In addition to volatility in international oil prices, actual crude oil production has been lower than projected, averaging just over 2 million barrels per day, due to the situation in the Niger Delta. As a result, overall revenue receipts have been well below expectation.

"On a positive note, non-oil revenues have performed better than anticipated, due largely to increased efficiency of collection of the various taxes. Indeed, the current oil price situation underscores the overdependence of the Federal Budget on oil related receipts.

"Consequently, this administration will continue to lay emphasis on diversifying our sources of revenue from oil to non-oil sources. In the 2009 fiscal year, more emphasis will be placed on increasing remittances from public corporations, parastatals and agencies. In this regard, we anticipate greater independent revenue of about N306 billion from various sources. The Federal Inland Revenue and Nigerian Customs Services will be further empowered to meet their mandates and shall be expected to increase their efficiency in collection. Trade related revenues will increase, as the 48-hour cargo clearance reforms transform the efficiency of our ports."

The President was hopeful that the measures being put in place would help to reduce dependence on oil, adding: "While the tariff bands under the new 2008-2012 Nigeria Customs and Tariff Book are lower than what previously obtained, the fifth band of 35 per cent continues to afford modest protection for some of our key local industries. The new tariffs are also consistent with our commitment to expanding trade across the ECOWAS region and creating new export opportunities for our domestic industries. As compliance improves and the incidence of smuggling reduces, we expect that non-oil, trade-related revenue will increase."

Accordingly, under the 2009 Budget Proposal, recurrent expenditure by way of overheads is being frozen, in the main, at the 2008 level or substantially cut, in a number of cases.

He said investments in "non-priority capital outlays" such as the acquisition of new vehicles, and the construction and furnishing of new headquarters for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), have been suspended.

"Excessive expenditure on international travels and training has been curbed by 50 per cent with expenditure on local travels slashed by 25 per cent. Recurrent expenditure on personnel costs will also be controlled with the full deployment of IT, by way of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), to all MDAs. Payments for goods and services will be discharged through the e-payment system to increase efficiency and reduce avenues for corruption," he said.

These new policy measures apply across all MDAs, he said, and would also be fully applicable to all parastatals and agencies that are not funded by the Treasury.

"While these policy measures will require significant adjustment across the public sector, they allow greater emphasis to be given to enhancing capital expenditure on on-going projects in key priority areas, despite the reduced resources available to the government in the 2009 fiscal year," he said.

After several postponements and anxiety, Yar' Adua presented the N2,870,510,042,679 budget to the Joint Session of the National Assembly, out of which N140,693,160,103 is meant for statutory transfers, while N283,649,892,795 is for debt service.

He said N1,649,429,453,681 has been earmarked as recurrent expenditure, while the balance of N796,737,536,101 has been set aside as Federal Government's contribution to the Development Fund for capital expenditure.

This aggregate expenditure represents a 4.45 per cent increase over the N2.748 trillion initially appropriated in 2008 and an 8.42 per cent increase over the 2008 Amended Budget's level of expenditure of N2.647 trillion. The capital vote of N796.7 billion is significantly higher than the actual capital expenditure of N491 billion in 2007.