FG to MOFI: Take Bold, Courageous Investment Steps on Behalf of Nigerians

No conflict with BPE’s role, says Usman

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The federal government has tasked the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) to take bold, courageous and aggressive investment steps, maximise opportunities, and collect returns on government assets under their management on behalf of Nigerians.                                                      

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,  Mr. Wale Edun, handed down the charge while inaugurating the reconstituted Board of the MOFI yesterday in Abuja, chaired by a former Finance Minister, Shamsudeen Usman and  Dr. Armstrong Takang as Managing Director.                                       

MOFI is the investment arm of the government saddled with the mandate to undertake the strategic management of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s investments and assets. 

The minister stated that MOFI was expected to ensure that what should  flow to the coffers of the Nigerian government is actually diligently identified and collected, adding that this was what similar organisations around the world were doing.

Edun, explained that the mandate of MOFI as owners, the holders of Nigeria’s assets was, “to optimise those assets and to do the very best they can to first of all enumerate those assets so that we are sure of what Nigeria owns physical and other assets that has been built up over time.”

He added: “Secondly, to maximise the return on those assets, these are what the country owns apart from what it earns from export revenues, oil revenues, non-oil export revenues and other government revenues, the assets that can also earn a return to add to the budget, foreign exchange reserves under the care of Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI).

“I think we are talking about around N18 trillion as the assets under the management of MOFI at the moment but I think that figure needs to be interrogated.

“I am sure that with the very rigorous and robust analysis and uncovering and proper valuation of the assets that the federal government owns, you will find out the figure is even much bigger than the current estimate, not to talk of the fact that we should be able to comfortably, in the next decade, reach N100 trillion in the value of those assets.

“I think MOFI is going to and has set out to be, and is determined to be a world class organisation along with the likes of GIC and Mubadala in the Middle East and other national firms and holders of sovereign assets .                                                            

 “The key, first of all, and it is something they have committed to, is high-level  world class corporate governance, transparency , accountability in management of those assets.

“And secondly, they have to be bold, courageous and they have to be aggressive on behalf of Nigerians to be able to take the best opportunities to be able to invest and collect the returns on those assets on behalf of Nigerian people.                           

“So, what should  flow to the coffers of the Nigerian government is actually diligently identified and collected and that’s what similar organisations around the world are doing. We expect no less from our own MOFI Ministry of Finance Incorporated.”   

Also speaking, the Chairman of MOFI Board, Dr. Usman said the board was expected to raise the organisation to no less than N100 trillion in the next 10 years, adding that  it was possible “because we will be very innovative, we will manage the assets properly and I will like to give Nigerians assurance that their assets are in safe hands because we have already adopted standards of integrity.”                        

According to him, “every member of the board is going to be subjected to a code of conduct that we have designed for ourselves and we are bound by it to ensure that we are managing these assets in the interest of Nigerians not in our own personal interest or the personal interest of anybody else.”

He ruled out any possibility of any role conflict with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)

“We’ve been in discussion with the  BPE. I don’t see any conflict. When I was minister of both finance and national planning, I was on the board of the National Council on Privatisation , the first director general of TCPC that started privatisation. So, one is familiar with all these things.                            

“I believe that we will talk to each other some more. Sometimes when organisations are set up, there is some overlapping but we will sort it out , and in terms of discharging assets on the capital market, there are various options available.                                  

“I don’t think anybody has found out any particular action. It depends on each particular case,; each particular case will be looked at on its own merit,” he said.

Also in his remarks, the Managing Director of MOFI, Dr. Takang applaudedthe board members’ expertise and capacity to help achieve the mandate and vision of the organisation.

He highlighted their crucial roles in advancing MOFI’s commitment to Nigeria’s economic development, and emphasised that their collective insights and leadership would be immensely instrumental in achieving the organisation’s strategic objectives and contributing to national economic resilience.

“As MOFI embarks on this new chapter, it’s core mandate remains steadfast – professionalising the management of state-owned assets; creating a comprehensive register of state-owned assets and

infrastructure, and effectively managing FGN assets across key sectors of the economy,“ he said.