FG Launches National Electronic Assets Register
By Patience Ikpeme
The Federal Government has officially launched the National Electronic Assets Register, a landmark initiative poised to streamline asset management, enhance transparency, and attract increased foreign investment.
The new digital platform is expected to significantly address the nation’s debt sustainability challenges and unlock substantial economic potential.
Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, speaking at the launch in Abuja on Thursday, expressed confidence that the register will revolutionize the country’s financial landscape. “We can now begin to make projections as to all sorts of revenues to be expecting from these assets,” she stated.
According to her, “With this, we can now do balance sheet management, we can do financial derivatives on it, and we can do so much more to release some of the potentials that have been locked down and trapped within these assets.”
The minister emphasized the platform’s role in strengthening investor confidence. “More importantly, for us to tell the development partners, our partners in progress, the foreign entities, the foreign investors that Nigeria is a healthy place to invest in, this will definitely significantly unlock more investments to come into the country.”
Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, the outgoing Accountant General of the Federation, highlighted the historical significance of the register, marking her final official assignment. “This is the first time that this National Asset Register will be put together and being digitally driven,” she said.
The register will encompass a broad spectrum of assets, including infrastructure such as airports, military installations, educational institutions, and office buildings. It will also include biological assets, mining concessions, and mineral deposits. “So they are all going to be valued and brought into the book,” Madein explained.
A key aspect of the initiative is the inclusion of “legacy assets,” those acquired before the adoption of IPSAS accrual basis accounting in January 2016. “We are talking about legacy assets. These are the assets acquired from time immemorial up to the end of year 2015,” she noted. Assets acquired since 2016 are already registered.
The digitization of asset tracking and management represents a significant leap forward. “The finance and accounts sector of our MDAs are all aware that we have asset tracking and management projects. They’ve done a lot, but mostly manually. But we have now transformed this process into a digital system,” Madein said.
Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) will play a crucial role in populating the register. “All the MDAs will be brought in and they will be keying in their assets from their various MDAs. And at the Office of Accountant General, we will be collating and also be putting these assets together for the purpose of reporting in our financial statements, and also for the use of various businesses of government investment that the government may want to undertake.”
Madein acknowledged the challenges of valuing older assets, particularly those subject to depreciation. “Although the majority of us will be wondering what will remain of the assets that have been acquired over 20 years. Like vehicles, when we put in depreciation, the life of the asset, like a vehicle, is a maximum of four years if we change the depreciation to 20% per annum. So you can imagine what it will be, but it will be appropriate to collate them first so that year by year we will have the value for what our asset is. That is when we can move from negative net assets to positive net assets.”
The Acting Director, Asset Tracking and Management, emphasized the register’s core functions, including assembling a detailed inventory of federal government assets, determining their valuation, and developing a computerized national electronic asset registry accessible in real time. “To date, over 400 submissions on asset data have been received from ministries, departments, and agencies, indicating active engagement in this initiative.”
This platform will serve as a central repository, ensuring real-time updates and complete transparency, facilitating informed decision-making regarding asset management, privatization, and public-private partnerships. The initiative is expected to lay a foundation for stronger public financial management and set a benchmark for public asset management nationwide.
