President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) to grow its assets under management from the current value of N18 trillion to at least N100 trillion in the next 10 years.
The president gave the charge at the launch of the new MOFI and inauguration of the Governing Council and Board of Governors of the newly established entity on Wednesday before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council’s (FEC’s) meeting in Abuja.
Buhari told the new board to “be the clearing house for the management of Federal Government’s investments and assets in line with global best practices with a view to ensuring that these investments are
charged the new MOFI to work with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to create a consolidated national assets register with a view to converting them into cash-flow-generating entities to support the government’s revenue drive.
This is even as he urged members of the board to work with the government with a view to using government-owned investments and assets to support the government in delivering on its social and economic obligations to the citizenry.
Buhari also directed the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to initiate the process of amending the MOFI Act and other legislations to further institutionalize this reform.
According to him, the amendments when carried out will ensure that MOFI is restructured and repositioned to become a trusted custodian and manager of Federal Government’s investments and assets.
The president explained that the MOFI Act of 1959, now Cap. 229, Laws of the Federation, 2004, explicitly empowered MOFI to enter into commercial transactions of any description on behalf of the Federal Government in its own name.
He further clarified that MOFI was used as a Special Purpose Vehicle across different sectors to invest in commercial entities over the last 64 years, adding that MOFI was created even before Nigeria’s independence.
In her remarks, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning commended the President for his support and approvals that had made the restructuring and repositioning of MOFI possible and promised that the Council and Board members would ensure that the new MOFI fulfills its mandate.
The MOFI Governing Council is chaired by the President, with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, as Vice Chair.
Other members of the Council are Ministers of Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika; Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo; Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Godwin Emefiele and three experts appointed by the President, namely Prof. Muhammad Sagagi, Dr Ayo Teriba and Prof. Ken Ife.
The board members include former Finance Minister, Shamsudeen Usman as Chairman, Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources and acting Accountant-General of the Federation; Olawale Edun, Fatima Mede, Ike Chioke, Muhammad Nda, Alheri Nyako and an executive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Members of the Executive Management team are Dr Armstrong Takang, Managing Director; Eric Solo, Executive Director/Chief Portfolio Officer; Sani Yakubu, Chief Investment Officer and Oluwakemi Owonubi, Chief Risk Officer.
