- says sacked desperate LG chairmen targeting LGs funds
Oyo State Governor,
Engineer Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, declared that his administration would
ensure that the State’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is able to offset
its recurrent expenditure before the end of his current tenure.
Governor Makinde, who made the declaration while
giving a keynote address at the one-day Tax Stakeholders ‘Poverty to
Prosperity’ Summit held at the Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, University College
Hospital, Ibadan, stated that his commitment to take the State from poverty to
prosperity remained on course.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to
Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, equally quoted the Governor as telling the
dignitaries at the event that the sacked local government chairmen who have
been struggling to return to the councils were targeting the funds of the
councils.
Makinde urged the people of the state to think of
new and innovative ideas to expand the State’s IGR.
According to him, the desperation by the sacked 68
Local Government and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) chairmen to return
to the offices was informed by the greet to take over the accumulated resources
of the councils.
He, however, stated that the era of spending
government’s money reckless had gone and the sacked illegal chairmen had gone
with it, adding that though many of the sacked chairmen have shown that they
were stone-hearted, one could only hope that those who fail to toe the path of
peace will be judged accordingly.
Governor Makinde who also spoke at the foundation
laying ceremony of the Mini-Mapo Hall at the Headquarters of Ibadan South-West
Local Government said that his government would ensure prudent management of
public funds.
While laying the foundation stone of the
Traditional Council’s building (Mini-Mapo), which was attended by the Olubadan
of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji and his High Chiefs as well
as other top Government functionaries, Governor Makinde reiterated the
importance of the traditional institution in ensuring peace and order in the
society, noting that despite the country operating democracy, the traditional
councils could not be overlooked.
The Governor added that the traditional rulers as
the closest to the people, who also understand their culture and tradition,
remained relevant in maintaining peace and resolving conflicts.
While delivering his keynote address at the tax
summit, Governor Makinde noted that growing the State’s IGR has become
imperative to the Government’s mandate to move Oyo State from poverty to
prosperity.
According to him, strategies have been put in
place by his Government to boost the IGR of the State and that the strategies
have started yielding fruits.
He stated that Oyo State was able to raise the IGR
from about N2 billion to N2.7 billion in November 2019.
He said: “We are here today to talk about the Oyo
State IGR Roadmap that will facilitate economic prosperity. The issue of
Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is very important as it is tied to how much
development the state will experience, all things being equal.
“Without adequate revenue, there will be no
resources to fund the budget; the state will have to resort to borrowing for
recurrent expenditure or owing for overheads, which is never ideal.
“Trends also show Oyo State’s IGR fluctuates; in
2014 it was N16.30bn, but dropped to N15.66bn in 2015, later increasing to
N18.88bn in 2016. For 2017, the IGR figures grew to N22.45bn. While in 2018 it
grew to N24.67bn. This put our IGR per capita in 2018 at below N3,000 per
person. We can definitely do better.
“The current trend across states in Nigeria is to
see IGR as being synonymous with revenue generated from taxes, partly because
other sources of revenue, especially natural resources are on the exclusive
list.
“Revenue generated from these natural resources
goes to the Federation Account and is then shared between the Federal
Government and states. A lot has been said about how this has served as a
hindrance to development, and how it has made states unwilling to invest in the
management of these resources. But that is only half of the story.
“The other half is that it is possible to raise
the IGR of the state without raising taxes. And this is the promise that we
made to the people of Oyo State while we were on the campaign trail. We are
determined to continue keeping that promise.
“Indeed, as clearly stated in our Roadmap for
Accelerated Development in Oyo State 2019-2023, our plans to increase the
revenue generated in Oyo State without an increase in taxes, stand on four
legs: A thorough review of the current IGR process and management in the state;
expanding the tax net; looking for new sources of revenue and being aggressive
and innovative in the mode of revenue collection by having the State Board of
the Internal Revenue Service working in collaboration with seasoned
professionals.
“So far, and I am sure we will have this expounded
by various speakers today, Oyo State has embarked on a comprehensive review of
the IGR process and management. We have been able to plug some holes in the
system and this is yielding results. We have also employed new managers of the
revenue collection process. Their mandate is to come up with innovative and
aggressive ways of getting the untaxed to contribute to the development of the
state.”
“The commencement of the new strategies put in
place to increase IGR produced the positive result recorded in December 2019,
as we raised the IGR to 2.7 billion Naira from about 2 billion Naira in
November.
“Also, we are putting in place a land
administration solution that will ensure wider and more effective enumeration
of all business and household properties, ensure ease of obtaining land titles
and other documents and faster approval of building plans. The land use charge
has been fine-tuned and will be responsibly applied.
“Furthermore, we have taken a second look at our
vehicle registration and renewal system and by the end of this month, the
public can expect a wider, better and faster platform which will be available
in all our 34 tax stations. We will continually apply fair and harmonised
billings to other rates and levies.
“It is generally agreed in economic circles that
the citizens are more inclined to respond positively and even volunteer to pay
their taxes when they see how these payments are being put in use. I am happy
to report that the taxes paid by the good people of Oyo State are currently
being ploughed back into the development of the state. You may be aware of the
work being done by the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA); we are
rehabilitating roads in Ibadan and will move outside Ibadan to other cities
before the end of this quarter.
“The work being done in the education sector is
also taxpayers’ money in action. Schools are being built and renovated; we are
concentrating on our final year secondary school students. We want them to
return better results in their WAEC exams this year. We are also able to
increase the education budget by 700 per cent compared to last year’s budget.
“Because we believe that health is wealth, we are
taking steps to ensure that the people of Oyo State remain healthy. Soon, we
will roll out a health intervention programme across all Local Government Areas
in the state. The renovation and equipping of hospitals and Primary Health Care
Centres in the state remain on course.
“In a few months, we are looking to start running
a mass transit system in the state. The modalities are being set up and we will
communicate the process with you.
“Of course, what this means is that we will have
to find a way of increasing our IGR especially by looking inwards and exploring
areas of competitive advantage. We have to, as a matter of urgency, attract
investments into Oyo State.
“Attracting direct investments will take a
collective effort. Our administration will continue to invest in security and
take other measures to ensure that we create an enabling environment for the
growth of investments. On your part, you should be ready to extend the
traditional hospitality to strangers, making them feel welcome in our midst.
“We also plead that you file your annual returns
early in the year and within the stipulated time.
“As we explore the theme of this Stakeholder’s
summit, I enjoin us all to keep our minds open to new ideas and think
creatively and innovatively about how to expand our tax net. If, as research
has shown, an increase in IGR is a strong determinant of economic development,
then those of us in this room should understand how important this mandate is.”
In his speech, the Oyo State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinola Ojo, maintained that the summit presented “an opportunity for all stakeholders to interact, obtain first-hand information on the benefits of paying taxes and perhaps most importantly, understand the plans and appreciate the strides by the Government regarding generating the revenue with which it intends to provide requisite services and infrastructure for the benefit of every citizen of Oyo State as well as enhance development in the State.”
