By Samuel Ogenyi, Uyo
Akwa Ibom state government said it generated about N15.6 billion as Internally Generated Revenue between January and June this year.
The six months IGR receipt would represent 62.4 percent of the revised IGR target for the 2020 fiscal year after the original projection of N52.5 billion was reviewed downward to N25 billion in May due to COVID-19 lockdown.
Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service Mr Okon Okon who made this known when he addressed the State 2021 Capital Estimate Biletaral Committee yesterday in Uyo said the Service could generate more than N30B in 2021 if granted full autonomy.
“2020 has been a very challenging year for us. We opened very well in January; we were looking at N42 billion in 2020, we were seeing a N40 billion coming; little did we know that the world system will be reordered by COVID-19.
“We started with N4 billion in January, about N3 billion in February. In March we struggled to raise N1.5 billion, but we saw a sharp decline in April to N1.0 billion; we struggled to do N1.2 billion in May and I think N1.2 billion in June.
” For the first half of the year as at the end June, we have raked in about N15.6 billion. We see a hazy future but we are optimistic that we will meet the revised budget of N25 billion.” Okon explained.
He said the Service would levetage on the state’s revenue administration law 2016 to aim at a 35 percent growth in IGR next year adding that a lot needed to be done if over reliance on Federal allocation would be stopped.
“It has become clear to everyone in Nigeria that we need to work on our IGR to achieve some stability in capital project funding. From what we saw in April when oil prices dipped to zero, we cannot rely on oil again.
“We have decided to do is to take the bull by the horn. Recall that Governor Udom Emmanuel had granted autonomy to AKIRS by signing into law the Akwa Ibom State Revenue Administration Law 2016.
“On that basis, we want to implement the full autonomy, which will see AKIRS have its own workforce, have a salary scale and condition of service that will be able to drive motivation, drive commitment and usher in spirit of enterprise which is the spirit that guides revenue administration in contemporary times.
“We want to implement the full autonomy as entrenched in the law. And that means, we will like to have our own workforce. We will like to automate the system.
“We should be the sole agency of government in the collection and administration of IGR. And of course if we meet a 20 percent growth in IGR, that will earn us $2million in grant from the world bank. That’s one of the pillars set by world bank.” The chairman stated.
