Niger state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello has said harmonized state and local government revenue law will reduce corruption and boost Internally Generated Revenue in the State.
The Governor stated this while declaring opened a 3-day training and interactive workshop on harmonized state and local government revenue law 2020 held at the Government House, Minna.
The Governor explained that the workshop was coming at a time when the state was going through financial challenges and the need to increase its revenue generation through harmonised revenue collection.
“The state has continued to experience shortfall from Federal allocation, therefore, it is necessary for the state and local governments to work together to increase our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
“Through harmonised revenue collection, we should be able to generate two to three billion monthly to augment what we get from federal allocation to make the state sustainable,” he said.
Governor Sani Bello urged the revenue staff to expand their nets of revenue collection as well as avoid multiple taxation and burden on those that were already paying.
He added that security was among the problems hampering revenue generation in the state especially in some local governments and assured that things will get better.
The Governor maintained that harmonized law would be beneficial to both the state and local government and provide them with revenues to carry out their statutory functions.
He said that the state has the potential to be self-reliant through her internally generated revenue rather than its continued reliance on Federal Government Allocation.
The Governor then identified agriculture, tourism and mining as some of the potentials, added that if properly harnessed, will generate revenues to the state.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Nasara Dan-Mallam said that the revenue generated, when the law come to effect, will be domiciled with the State Internal Revenue Services.
Barr.Dan-Mallam stated that the harmonization process of the revenue started in 2016, and that the law had come to stay, saying it will lead to more revenue generation for the state.
The Acting Chairman, Niger State Internal Revenue Services, Ahmed Garba Gunna said the introduction of this initiative was aimed at building an ambitious revenue profile for the state and its LGAs.
Garba Gunna who disclosed that, since the beginning of this administration, the internally generated revenue has been increasing annually, assured that they will explore more avenues using technologies to checkmate corruption and to generate more.
The Acting Chairman, however, allayed the fears of the taxpayers promising them that there will not be multiple taxation on them.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Finance, Abubakar Zakari said the workshop was one of the many efforts of the State government to deliberately boost revenue generation in the State pointed out that this will chart a new course for greater revenue generation in the State.
