On Tuesday, November 26, the House of Representatives passed the Bill to repeal the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Act of 1959 and replace it with the Ministry of Finance Act 2024 for its second reading.
During the plenary, Ademorin Kuye, who led the debate on the bill’s general principles, explained that the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI) was originally created in 1959 to serve as the sole custodian of Federal Government assets across the country. However, Kuye pointed out that MoFI has failed to fulfill its intended role due to issues such as neglect, mismanagement, and abuse of federal assets.
The lawmaker highlighted that the old 1959 Act, which only contained six sections, lacked the necessary framework to allow MoFI to operate effectively in modern Nigeria. To address this, the new bill introduces a more comprehensive structure with 49 sections that will better define the management, conduct, and use of federal government assets.
Kuye emphasized that the bill, once passed into law, would revitalize MoFI by providing a clear institutional framework for corporate governance and an organized structure. The goal is to improve accountability and ensure the effective management of federal assets.
Additionally, the bill aims to empower MoFI to stimulate economic growth by efficiently using and managing government assets, preventing their abandonment or misappropriation. It also seeks to establish a legal foundation for MoFI to manage over N300 trillion worth of federal assets, ensuring proper incentives for its board and enabling it to function as a national corporation that will optimize the use of these valuable resources.
