Nigerian govt generated N2.4bn from marriage registry in 2024 – Minister

The Federal Government has generated about N2.4 billion in 2024 from marriage contracts through its marriage registry at the Ministry of Interior.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a media interface.

According to him, the ministry also generated over N3.2 billion from expatriate quota applications, saying overall, there was a 150 percent increase in revenue generated.

Furthermore, the Federal Government also disclosed that it repatriated 828 foreigners to their various countries in 2024.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Interior has commended Mr Tunji-Ojo over the 2024 budget performance of the ministry.

The joint committee gave the commendation on Wednesday, when Mr Tunji-Ojo appeared to defend the 2025 budget of the ministry.

Mr Tunji-Ojo told the lawmakers during the session that the ministry’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, exceeded its target In the 2024 budget.

“In 2024, we had a revenue target as approved by the national assembly of N1.2 billion for business expatriate quotas and naturalisation but what we were able to generate was N4,508,306,968.5,” he added.

The minister explained that the increase in the IGR was not as a result of the increase in expatriates quota revenue, noting that a lot of key sectors within the ministry came alive in the last financial year.

He attributed the increase to some measures adopted by the ministry to close leakages through zero remittances and full automated solutions.

According to him, it was the automation of these solutions that closed some of the leakages  that made the revenue to shoot up.