Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said that Nigeria’s non-oil revenue grew to N1.15 trillion, representing 15.7 per cent above target rate in response to Federal Government’s efforts at diversifying the nation’s economy.

Ahmed made this known virtually at the Institute of Directors (IoD) 2021 Annual Directors Conference which held physically and virtually on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two-day event is with theme: “Creating the Future: Deepening the Corporate Governance Practice through Multi-Sectoral and Multi-Generational Collaborations”.

Ahmed said the development was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration commitment to further diversifying the Nigerian economy away from oil.

She noted that Nigeria was showing resilience in recovery from recession from the ravages of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic which brought challenges to global economies.

The Minister said the Federal Government alongside the private sector had implemented a wide range of monetary measures to stimulate economic recovery, growth and development, job creation and improved standards of living.

Ahmed said government was also intensifying efforts to further grow and diversify the country’s revenue sources with a variety of fiscal policies.

“Nigeria was quickly able to exit recession and is on her way to path of sustainable growth and we are intensifying efforts to grow and diversify our revenue sources to grow revenue from the current 8 per cent.

“Our non-oil revenues have grown to N1.15 trillion, representing 15.7 per cent above set target.

“We are working on the 2021 finance bill and it’s nearing completion.

“Also, the recent approval of the medium term national development plan is an important milestone of Buhari’s commitment to delivering sustainable growth and we require strong support and monitoring during implementation,” she said.

Ahmed reiterated government’s commitment to addressing infrastructural gaps via Infrastructural Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCo) to reduce cost of production for businesses in the country.

“It would increase investments in the Nigerian infrastructure sector to spur growth in key sectors of the Nigerian economy,” she said.

Dr Ije Jidenma, President, IoD, expressed the institute’s interest in partnering with government at all levels to entrench strong corporate governance practices into the public service to help achieve its goals of economic development.