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The Accountant General of the Federation, Dr. Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, has revealed that capital releases for the 2024 fiscal year will commence in the middle of May, 2024.
She disclosed this during a one-day Stakeholders interaction/sensitization session on the revised policy on cash management and bottom-up cash planning workshop.
Dr. Madein stated that, “the 2023 capital budget releases was expected to end on the 31st of March 2024, but at the end of March, cash plan for 2023 was still being uploaded, so we decided to make calls on March 15 which we have treated already, and that of March 21st is what we are still on.”
She further explained that all payments for capital releases for 2023 have been compiled, and the next step is to close the programme and commence the process for 2024.
“As soon as we close this Programme, we will start calling for the uploading of payments by MDAs for the year 2024. We expect that by 15th May, we will commence uploading the cash plan for 2024,” she added.
The workshop was convened to aggregate inputs from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) on how to make the revised cash management policy effective and transparent.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, in his remarked, noted that the economy is at a stage of rejuvenation, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that financial dealings must be transparent, which is why the workshop is critical.
“The President has directed that financial dealings have to be transparent, which is why the workshop is critical,” Edun stated.
The announcement of the May commencement of 2024 capital releases comes as a welcome move, as it aims to streamline the financial management process and ensure transparency in government operations.
Edun further elaborated on the link between government revenue and overhead spending stating that “the issue of overhead is a game of numbers. If the government has more revenue, it will be able to give more.”
He emphasized the importance of a structured approach to public finance management. “Certain principles apply here,”
“There will be planning of government expenditure, procedures for government spending, and then transparency can be recognized so that people will be able to see what is truly happening. That is what I want to assure us of, the fact that it is possible one way or the other.” He said
Recognizing the crucial role of technology and human resources in implementing the revised policy, Mr. Edun noted that, “technology and capacity; without capacity, this policy will not be able to pull through. It is because of the relative success from where we are that we have continued pushing. If we don’t have the human or technology capacity, then the technical capabilities will not be able to come through.”
“Nigeria needs the young people to be able to pull all these technology advancements through,” he declared.
