President Bola Tinubu has ordered a review of deductions and revenue retention practices by major federal revenue-generating agencies in the country.
This is part of the effort to improve public savings, boost spending efficiency, stimulate investment, and unlock resources for growth.
This was made known by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, while briefing the state house correspondent at the Presidential Villa, where he stated that President Tinubu gave the directive during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday.
Some of the targeted agencies include the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
Edun said that President Tinubu specifically called for a reassessment of NNPC’s 30% management fee and 30% frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act. He tasked the Economic Management Team, chaired by Edun, to present actionable recommendations to FEC on the optimal way forward.
According to Edun, the President said his directive was part of efforts to sustain reforms that have dismantled economic distortions, restored policy credibility, enhanced resilience, and bolstered investor confidence.
We must optimize every naira
Edun said that the President emphasized the critical role of savings in catalyzing investment and growth.
He said, “Currently, public investment as a share of GDP stands at a low 5.0 per cent, largely due to insufficient public savings.
“We must urgently review and optimize our savings. This includes enhancing spending efficiency and reviewing deductions from the Federation Account, such as the cost of collection by revenue agencies, such as FIRS, Customs, NUPRC, and NIMASA etc.
“There is also the need to reassess the 30 per cent management fee and the 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction by NNPC based on the Petroleum Industry Act. We must optimise every available Naira to sustain our momentum and finance our growth trajectory, especially in a time of global liquidity constraints.
“Accordingly, I am directing the Economic Management Team, chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to conduct a comprehensive review of all deductions and revenue retention practices, and present actionable recommendations to this Council for an optimal way forward.”
The president, during his address on the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme to tackle poverty, said that his administration has implemented bold and difficult reforms that have dismantled longstanding distortions in Nigeria’s economy and restored policy credibility.
Tinubu said that these reforms have enhanced our economic resilience, restored macroeconomic stability, created a transparent and competitive business environment, and bolstered investor confidence.
He said, ‘’As a result, our economy is now better positioned to attract both domestic and foreign private investment, which is critical to stimulating sustained growth, creating decent jobs, and lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty.’’
7% minimum growth target
President Tinubu pointed out that his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda remains focused on achieving a $1 trillion economy by the year 2030.
He noted that in order to achieve that, the country needs to target a minimum growth rate of 7% by 2027.
The president said, ‘’To realise this vision, we must now accelerate our efforts to achieve a minimum growth rate of 7.0 per cent by 2027. This is not just an economic target; it is a moral imperative. Stimulating higher growth is the only sustainable path to solving the poverty challenge in Nigeria.’’
He noted that the recent IMF Article IV Report published in July 2025 also affirms this trajectory and underscores the importance of investment-led growth.
