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Tag: IGR

  • Anxiety over states’ dwindling IGR

    Anxiety over states’ dwindling IGR

    The latest Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Quarterly Review shows a drastic drop in the revenue profile of most states of the federation, a development, analysts have argued leaves nothing to cheer about, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

    There are mounting worries over the parlous state of the economy. The worries, if you may, are not for nothing.

    Reason: the biting economic crunch has not only affected receipts to the 36 states of the federation but is already having a negative run on critical sectors of the economy, especially social services like healthcare, security, education, infrastructure to mention just a few.

    One agency that has raised its voice above the din over the unprecedented decline in states’ revenue in recent times is the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). NEITI’s treatise is as damning as it is revealing.

    A snapshot of (NEITI) Quarterly Review

    According to the latest NEITI Quarterly Review obtained by The Nation, receipts to states across the federation have dipped in recent times.

    The report tagged: ‘FAAC Disbursements in 2016: Review and Projections,’ in which the agency appraised the internally generated revenues (IGRs) of the states showed that payments to the three tiers of government have continued to decline by over 40% since 2013.

    Specifically, the report stated that: “The federal government received N3.711 trillion in 2013 and this fell by 43.9% to N2.08 trillion in 2016. Similarly, disbursements to state governments totaled N3.095 trillion in 2013. In 2016, states received N1.642 trillion, which represented a 46.9% decline on the 2013 figures. Local governments received N1.011 trillion in 2016, representing over 40% lower than the figure of N1.708 trillion received in 2013.”

    On disbursements to the federal government in 2016, the NEITI publication disclosed that the total FAAC allocations stood at N2.08trillion as against the N6.06 trillion that the federal government budgeted for the year. This represents a drop of 20% when compared to the 2015 figure of N2.6trillion.

    The payment covered just about 34% of the budget and was not even enough to meet the recurrent expenditure needs of N2.6 trillion of the FGN last year. The implication according to the NEITI publication was that “the federal government would  resort to even higher debts to fund the budget including debt service payments, which accounted for 24.3% of the 2016 budget, increased.’’

    NEITI further revealed that revenues accruing to the state governments fell short of their budgets projections; some as much as 30%. These disbursements comprise of gross statutory allocation, 13% share of derivation, Value Added Tax, distribution of exchange gain, NLNG dividend, and distribution of excess bank charges recovered and distribution of solid minerals revenue.

    The report cited some states like Lagos which had a budget of N662.60bn, against the  total revenue of  N410.5bn  that accrued to the state leaving a shortfall of about N252 billion. On the other hand, Adamawa state had revenue of N41.05 billion against a budget of N130.10 billion while Nasarawa had revenue of N32.5 billion to fund a budget of N77.30 billion.  It further asserted that some states such as Cross River, Sokoto, Borno, Jigawa, Osun and Plateau had revenues below 30% of their budgets in 2016.

    Akwa Ibom state received the highest allocation of N116.6 billion from the federation account in 2016 and was closely followed by Lagos and Rivers states with N109.3 billion and 103.98 billion respectively.

    The NEITI Quarterly Review also showed that Kwara and Ebonyi states received the least allocations of N30.08 billion and 30.09 billion respectively from the federation account.

    The disparities in the total disbursements to state and local governments were also highlighted in the report. For instance, while three states received disbursements above N100 billion each, 30 states received allocations less than half of that figure (N50bn) in 2016.

    On disbursements to the 774 local governments in Nigeria, Lagos state topped the table with a total of N69.29 billion to its 20 local governments, followed by Kano state’s 44 local governments that received a total of N56.16 billion. Bayelsa state received the lowest disbursement of N11.56billion for its eight local governments.

    The NEITI Quarterly Review identified allocations to the local governments to include   gross statutory allocation, exchange gain difference, value added tax, and excess revenue from various sources. Others were NLNG dividend, recovery of excess bank charges, excess PPT and solid minerals revenue.

    It is also instructive to note that NEITI shared the concern of Nigerians for state governments to lessen their dependence on federal allocations through creative means of increasing opportunities for internally generated revenues. “IGR is very low in most states and it is only in two states of Lagos and Ogun that the IGR is higher than FAAC allocations.”

    The debt profile of the state governments, NEITI observed, were on the increase; consisting of domestic and external debts as at December, 2015 and June 30th, 2016. For instance, Lagos state has the highest cumulative debt of N603.25 billion as against the state’s revenue of N410.5bn for 2016. The second on the debt table is Delta state with N331.95 billion growing debt as against N142.78 of the state revenue. Osun and Akwa Ibom states took the third and fourth places on rising debt profiles with N165.91 billion and N161.23billion respectively.

    Yobe and Anambra states stood out clearly as states with the least debt burdens. While Yobe was indebted to the tune of N11.74billion, Anambra state owed N20.60billion.  The cases of Osun, Cross River and Delta states raised major concerns in the debt analyses giving the fact that their total borrowings over the years were found to have more than doubled the total revenues accruing to them in 2016. The report maintained that “Considering that most states already have a high debt burden, the possibility of even higher debts for the states remain quite high.”

    The NEITI Quarterly Review noted that “All three-tiers of the Nigerian government have been subjected to dwindling and volatile revenue as a result of militant attacks in the Niger Delta and falling/unstable oil prices.’’

    It however expressed optimism that with the gradual increase in oil production and a gradual rise in oil prices from $30.70 per barrel in 2016 to $54.58 per barrel in January 2017 there is hope for the recovery of the economy. “If this rising trend continues government revenue will likely increase further. This will improve the ability of both the federal and state governments to fund their budgets,” the NEITI Quarterly Review concluded.

    Implication of a monoculture economy

    Because of the dependence of government revenue on petroleum exports, Nigeria’s public finances are subject to frequent upswings and downswings, following movement of global oil prices. As shown by this and previous issues of the Review, all three-tiers of the Nigerian government have been subjected to dwindling and volatile revenues as a result of militant attacks in the Niger Delta and falling/unstable oil prices.

    New mandate to state governments

    Faced with the grim reality of an unstable polity as a result of dwindling oil receipts, there has been a paradigm shift in the way state governments are expected to run their operations.

    Like Lagos, many states have literally woken up to smell the coffee as they have become rather ingenious in setting their priorities in line with their revenue projections.

    Speaking at a public forum in Lagos recently, Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun said most of the state governments in the past were spendthrift.

    “In the past few years, 90% of all what we were spending on was on recurrent leaving just 10% for capital project. For instance, when we came on board, we discovered that the federal government spent N19billion on infrastructure in 2013 while it spent a total of N64b on travels, N51billion on welfare like rice, biscuits, coffee, and tea. If you spend for the wrong things you are going to get the wrong results,” she said.

    The minister who acknowledged the fact that country was in dire financial straits at the moment, said things would have been a lot better if the right infrastructure was in place.

    Waxing philosophical, she said, “Often things get worse before they get better. Most nation’s that are doing well today have passed through some kind of adversity. Ethiopia, that everybody is talking about today invests over 60% of its budget on infrastructure, they export flowers to Holland and make a lot of forex in return. Nigeria needs to take a cue from such good examples.”

    Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Maxifund Investments and Securities Plc, speaking with The Nation recently lamented what he described as the overdependence on a monoculture economy. Such overdependence, he stressed, does not bodes well for the economy.

    “I think we should living in denial, saying that this has happened because of the past administration. We should forget and throwaway that administration and do something better than what that administration did. That’s why we voted. So I think people should have patience because there is no doubt that if we spend N1.5 trillion on capex, and people will not benefit from it. We will benefit from it. But it is the level of benefit you get that matters at the end. Right now, people don’t have food to eat because no money is circulating around. But with corruption left, right and centre, it becomes a problem.”

    Expatiating, the trained lawyer and stockbroker said: “I think the issue of corruption appears to have permeated everywhere. Even the domestic industry everybody is doing something that is not right. In a situation where the recurrent expenditure is so high, that is a recipe for corruption because even in private businesses what you achieve with one person may be more than 20 in the public institutions. So I think we need to look into the process of those who are going to implement the budget. If the budget is well-implemented, I’m optimistic that it will help Nigerians get out of their current poverty state.”

    He would rather the government is more circumspect in their operations.

    “We have so many uncompleted projects littering over Nigeria because they would forget the one that was coming up. They bring out something new and midway they stop it.  as a private business, all you do is you do a projection that if they can complete five of the 34 projects they have outlined fully to operational position I tell you we will be better off than  having one quarter completed of the 34 projects. I think the government is biting a lot more than it can chew. I don’t believe idea of saying we have earmarked 34 projects for completion. They will achieve that. Just mark down this date we’re talking, at the end of the fiscal year they cannot deliver on those projects. But if they can achieve even five of it, we will be better off.”

  • Senate begins probe of alleged misuse of IGR by MDAs

    Senate begins probe of alleged misuse of IGR by MDAs

    THE Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Alleged Misuse, Under Remittance and other Fraudulent Activities in Collection, Accounting and Remittances of Internally Generated Revenue by Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) running into hundreds of billions of naira will begin hearing tomorrow.
    Senate President Bukola Saraki will inaugurate the committee.
    The committee of eight members with Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Lagos West)as chairman, was constituted on Tuesday, November 30.
    It followed a resolution by -the Senate to investigate the alleged misuse, under-remittance and other fraudulent practices in collection, accounting, remittances and expenditure of internally generated revenue by all Revenue Generating Agencies of Federal Government from January 2012 to December 2016.
    Explaining the slight delay in beginning the investigation, Senator Adeola said it was occasioned by the intervening Yuletide and the need to allow agencies concentrate on the defence of their budget estimates in the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
    He noted that with the process of the budget almost out of the way, the committee will have the presence of heads of agencies to throw light on their revenue generation and expenditure profiles.

  • Niger eyes shea butter production to grow IGR

    Niger eyes shea butter production to grow IGR

    Niger State government is to explore the production of shea butter to shore up its Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR), the Commissioner for Investment, Commerce and Industry, Hajiya Rahmatu Mohammed Yar’Adua, has said.
    She spoke during the shea-butter development training organised by the American Shea-Butter Institute, an internationally recognised group in innovation and dedicated to the advancement of Shea Tree. The group is based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
    She said: “The training has exposed the Niger State delegation and the state at large to global best practices in the development of shea butter industry and ways to penetrate the international market.”
    She said the President of the American Shea Butter Institute, Dr. Samuel Hunter, had confirmed that the state shea butter consultant was collaborating with the group to map out strategies to develop the shea butter industry to increase the value of the product in the state.
    The commissioner said the immediate benefits of the proposed action plan towards exploring the full potential of shea-nut include training and equipping of the participants to show efficiency of the training curriculum and quality control protocols developed in the road map.
    Other benefits, he said, are the evaluation of the regulatory framework for establishing a certification centre in the state for shea products and training on the requirements to build a certification centre.
    The people, she said, would be trained to assist local women in shea fruit harvesting, adding that the government would ensure that the commodity complies with the certification of ISO 17065, European Union (EU) and NOP fair trade, organic farm products and organic cosmetics certification.
    Other factors, she added, is the enumeration of trees in the state, production and verification of other relevant data for shea products, review of existing legal framework for the implementation of environmental protection plan for sheatrees, exploitation control for shea fruits, nuts and derivatives as well as draft necessary amendments and/or new laws for an effective legal framework.
    She also said her visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, she told him that the state produces 60 per cent global of shea-nuts, adding that if properly utilised, they would go a long way in boosting the revenue of the state and job creation.

  • Oyo targets N107b IGR in 2017

    The Oyo State government plans to generate N107 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the year.

    Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning Bimbo Adekanmbi said this in an interactive session at the House of Chiefs, Agodi, Ibadan at the weekend.

    Adekanmbi said the government was targeting the informal sector to boost its IGR, adding that the monthly projection of N5 billion in last year’s budget had been reduced to N4billion.

    He was accompanied by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Toye Arulogun and other top government officials.

    The commissioner said  the informal sector is critical in the actualisation of the N207,671,495,300.00 billion proposed Self-Reliance Budget for the year.

    Adekanmbi said the budget evolved from a zero based budgeting approach, which made it mandatory that every item (revenue and expenditure) was only included after strong and thorough justification.

    He said the state’s priority  shall be on infrastructure, agriculture, and its entire value chain, commerce, industrialisation, education and health.

    Other sectors would also be given necessary attention.

    The commissioner lamented that the IGR, which was supposed to be the other mainstay of the state’s income, performed at 20.69 per cent of the total revenue performance of last year’s budget and about 29 per cent of the actual recurrent revenue.

    He added that  the government’s efforts at improving the IGR had started with the restructuring and repositioning of the Board of Internal Revenue with the proposal of full autonomy.

  • Lawmaker optimistic Lagos will boost IGR for 2017

    Lawmaker optimistic Lagos will boost IGR for 2017

    Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Economic Planning and Budget, Hon. Rotimi Olowo has assured that Lagos State is desirous of raising the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state, in the fiscal year, stressing that some government agencies have been given the matching orders to deliver on target.

    Speaking with State House Correspondents at the weekend, the lawmaker hinted that the proposed N812billion budget of Lagos state for year 2017 is realistic and can be met.

    “You will appreciate the fact that the 2016 budget was over N600billion and the people appreciate the fact that we have achieved a lot. As at 2016, the naira was about N220 to a dollar, today, it is about N490 to a dollar. So, when you look at the budget, we cannot operate in isolation, we are affected by what is happening all over the world. We are the second biggest economy in Nigeria and number seven in Africa. The whole budget for the year is less than $2billion. When you go to a state like Atlanta or Chicago in the United States of America, their economy is bigger than that in terms of potentials. We are looking at Lagos as a global economy, we are looking at what Cairo is doing, what Johannesburg in South Africa is doing. If you go to Casablanca today, you would appreciate what we are talking about. The economy of Lagos is more than N2trillion because we are not just looking at now, we are looking at the potentials. To me, it is small compared to the leap we want to take. We want to take a great leap in Lagos because it is the economy hub of Nigeria. Lagos was better than Dubai in the past, but Dubai alone now, as a district in the United Arab Emirate, their budget is running into billions of dollars. The Lagos state budget is not bogus, we are only complaining because of our mentality.”

    As to whether the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would perform up to expectation in the year, he said: “That is the message we want to pass to them, many of them don’t meet the required targets. We have cut the target of some, but we have increased the target of some of them because what we discovered was that many of them could do better. We increased the target of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) from N20.1billion to N30billion and we discovered that they needed capacity and tools to perform, so we increased their subvention to over N200million. If at the end of the day, they don’t perform, we would cut it off. We are also treating some others like that, we want them to operate like the private sector so that they could meet their target.”

    On fears that the renewed revenue drive could lead to over taxation by the LIRS, he said such fears were unfounded.

    “The interest of the people of Lagos State is paramount to us. But, really how many people are in the tax net of the state. We have less than 30 per cent of them on the net, so we still have 70 per cent that are not yet captured in the tax net.

  • Agency targets N200m IGR

    The Ogun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OGSADC) has set a revenue target of N200 million in the next fiscal year.

    The General Manager of the Corporation, Mr. Femi Soremekun revealed this during the 2017 Budget defence at the Ogun State House of Assembly Complex, Abeokuta the state capital.

    He said the corporation targeted 100 million as revenue this year and was able to achieve N133 million in the third quarter of this year.

    Soremekun, however, reeled off some of the corporation’s plans towards realising its target to include pruning of existing trees and slashing of 350 hectares at Ibara Orile cashew plantation and construction of additional bee hives for honey production.

    Other plans by the corporation, he said, included purchase of 15,000 point of lay birds for its Balekan and Oke-Eri poultry projects, as well as continuous maintenance of existing rubber trees at Remo Rubber Plantation. He said to raise 60,000 sprouted seeds and planting of oil palm and arable crops has also commenced.

  • Corporation targets N200m IGR

    The Ogun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OGSADC) has set a revenue target of N200 million in the next fiscal year.

    The General Manager of the Corporation, Mr. Femi Soremekun revealed this during the 2017 Budget defence at the Ogun State House of Assembly Complex, Abeokuta the state capital.

    He said the corporation targeted 100 million as revenue this year and was able to achieve N133 million in the third quarter of this year.

    Soremekun, however, reeled off some of the corporation’s plans towards realising its target to include pruning of existing trees and slashing of 350 hectares at Ibara Orile cashew plantation and construction of additional bee hives for honey production.

    Other plans by the corporation, he said, included purchase of 15,000 point of lay birds for its Balekan and Oke-Eri poultry projects, as well as continuous maintenance of existing rubber trees at Remo Rubber Plantation. He said to raise 60,000 sprouted seeds and planting of oil palm and arable crops has also commenced.

  • Lagos rakes in N287b IGR

    Lagos rakes in N287b IGR

    The Lagos State government has raked in more Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) this year.
    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode hailed tax payers for performing their civic obligations faithfully.
    He spoke at a special evening of music and camaraderie held at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
    The governor said as at December 16, the state had raked in N287billion as against N268.2billion generated last year.
    Ambode said the taxes paid have been judiciously utilised to upgrade infrastructures and provide various services.
    Speaking on the significance of the event which featured performances by an array of musicians and was attended by top political leaders, captains of industries, media executives, professionals in various fields, members of the diplomatic corps, among others, the governor said the government was greatly appreciative of the contributions of the people to the state’s growth.
    He said: “You wonder what it is that we are doing? We said it is an evening with the governor but the truth is I just set this up to appreciate all of you and to say a big thank you.
    “Yes, people have been saying that Lagos is working but Lagos is only working because of the people who are here.
    “The taxpayers are the ones giving us the little energy that we have and even though when they say Nigeria is in recession, but somehow Lagos has been able to do it and it is because people are paying their taxes.
    “The truth is that the people have been carrying out their civic obligations and somehow we have been returning those obligations with the services that we have provided and you found out that this year; we have actually made more IGR than last year under a recession.
    The event was attended by Deputy Governor Idiat Oluranti Adebule; House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa; Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola; All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; Majority Leader of House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Information Lai Mohammed; former Osun State Governors Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Isiaka Adeleke; former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke; Senator representing Lagos West and his predecessor, Solomon Adeola and Ganiyu Solomon; Speaker of Lagos State; Managing Director of Access Bank Herbert Wigwe, among others.
    Some of the legendary musicians who performed at the event include Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Sir Shina Peters, Lagbaja, Queen Salawa Abeni and Adewale Ayuba.

  • ‘It is worrisome that govt treats private schools as a source of IGR’

    ‘It is worrisome that govt treats private schools as a source of IGR’

    Dr. Segun Oyebolu, Director and Board of Governors member, Premier College, Ijebu-Ode, talks about his foray into education and technology, in this encounter with HANNAH OJO. 

    Are ivy schools excluded from the challenges facing the educational sector in the country? 

    This is not so because the  challenges in running a school in modern day Nigeria are indeed many. One major challenge is the dearth of good teachers. Our universities are already failing our nation. The quality of teachers graduating from these institutions nowadays leaves much to be desired. It is now fashionable in Nigeria to see graduate teachers who are unable to construct simple sentences. Inconsistent government policies are also a great disservice to education. The fact that our government now sees and treats private schools as major sources of IGR should be worrisome to right-thinking citizens. How do you enforce standards, if all you care about is taxes and fees? Public infrastructure is next to nothing and support systems are nonexistent in most situations to help private schools meet desired goals. If we don’t change our current strategy for educating our children, then we will only have ourselves to blame as we keep on producing degree-wielding but uneducated graduates.

    Being a businessman with interest in other fields, what inspired your move into the educational sector?

    I am involved in education because I strongly believe our super ivy schools are letting down our children.  These so- called ivy schools are not impacting the lives of our children in a meaningful way. The endless teaching system and excessive home assignments are choking up these kids and ultimately turning otherwise brilliant students into robots. These schools have elevated the “agberu gbeso” system that is making our children to becoming experts at passing examinations without necessarily knowing the subjects. This has very adverse effect on our kids and the future of our nation. It is one more reason that Premier College stands very distinct in the comity of ivy-league schools.

    How do you think technology education can impact the society?

    My impact on society has been chiefly focused on technology education and children and it is noteworthy to say that in the whole of Nigeria, I was the first person to present and implement a statewide computer education project for high school students as far back as 1994 when I partnered the then Ogun State University to introduce Computer Education into public secondary schools throughout the State.  This project, the first of such magnitude in Nigeria came about because of my extreme dedication to ensuring that no student graduates from our public school at the time without skills in Computer Education. This was a project that set the ball rolling in Nigeria and confirms that Public Private Initiative can indeed succeed in the Nigerian Education sector. In 2004, at the invitation of the then Ondo State Government, I returned home from Canada to implement the Ondo State Computer Education Project, a project that covered and connected over 300 public secondary schools in Ondo State. For our children to operate in the new world order and be significant players, they must be taught and be well grounded in technology education. This belief is our guiding principle at Premier College, Ijebu-Ode.

    What high moments have you  recorded in  your designation as a school owner?

    We are a school building tomorrow’s global leaders. Recently, our school came 3rd in the Roche Forte L’Afrique International Spelling Bee Competition which took place at the National University of Benin Republic that featured 27 top secondary schools from 3 West African countries (Ghana, Benin and Nigeria). Aside placing 3rd overall, we were also the best performing school of the 9 schools that represented Nigeria at the competition. On the home front, in June of this year, our school also emerged 3rd in the International Kangourou Mathematics Competition conducted all over Nigeria by the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja. Not only did we come 3rd, 3 of our students also scored above 70 percentile in the same competition – these are results I am proud off.  It shows without overburdening our students, they are excelling on their own.

    You once mentioned getting students acquitted with reading newspapers, how has this effort paid off in improving standards?

    On a weekly basis, we  give Newspapers to our kids to enable them understand what is going on around them and also improve on their English composition and comprehension. We observe reading newspapers rrhas improved our confidence in spoken and written English. My experience with Nigerian graduates’ poor grasp of English was part of what led to this early initiative. I am thankful to God that this singular effort has paid off greatly. The 2016 WAEC Result for our 5 candidate amply shows the effect of this effort as 3 of them scored A1 while the other 2 scored B2 in English Language. I am happy that a core part of our effort is already yielding fruit. Our school boarding unit operates like any normal home and not a dorm. Our House parents are genuinely passionate about the kids and their academic goals.

    They lend very good hands in the supervision of these kids ensuring they complied with school rules and overall goal of their being in school. Our cardinal goal for science education is to consistently drive the “what if” question, to open our students to new discoveries and encourage creative solutions in sciences. We also allow  intending students to sit for its entrance examination from the comfort of their home (via online channel). The CBT process takes less than 60-minute and admission decision is made within 48 hours. Also, part of ensuring this work-level skill is obtained by each of our children is making available to each of them, a personal laptop that is available for their studies and inquisition at all times. Computer Studies is our own entrepreneurial subject.

    How has partnership or association is helping your school to thrive?

    Our school is a member of the SchoolOnline project of the British Council.  We have partnership agreement with a number of schools worldwide, it is partly for this reason that about 10 of our students will be visiting London this summer. This travel experience will give them ample opportunity to see and learn firsthand the culture, heritage and way of life of the average Englishman. Those are things you can never teach correctly in a classroom no matter how hard you try.   Also, fine-tuning our curricula to compare favourably with any school curriculum anywhere in the World is a continuous exercise. We are mindful of our JSS 3 graduates who have done very  well in the state-conducted examination. These students will be part of our new internship project and we look forward to ensuring that the next three years enable them to gain tremendous edge.

  • Skye Bank to assist states improve IGR

    Skye Bank to assist states improve IGR

    Skye Bank Plc has expressed its readiness to assist states improve on their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), plug leakages in revenue channels and stem the ghost workers syndrome through efficient payroll software expertise.

    The bank, which  has led IGR mandate in no fewer than six Northern states in the last 12 months, handles several  revenue services for Ministries, Departments and Agencies of many states and that of the Federal Government.

    The bank has mandate as the payroll bank for Kogi, Nasarawa and Katsina states, in addition to being re-appointed as lead collecting bank for Kogi, Kano, and Taraba states in  IGR and services.

    In addition, the bank handles the Hajj Commission Collections accounts for several states in the North, as well as the Federation Account and Allocation Committee’s accounts of some states.

    Also, the Lagos State Government directed all its Agencies, Ministries and parastatals to increase business relationship with the bank, just as Kogi re-appointed the financial institution as its lead collecting bank for the state’s IGRs.

    The news of the re-appointment of Skye Bank was contained in a letter signed by the  state Accountant General, Alhaji Momoh Jibrin and addressed to the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Bank, Tokunbo Abiru

    The bank’s IGR and service mandates also cover states in the South South, Southwest, Northcentral and the Southeastern parts of the country.

    The bank has helped and still helps several states raise their revenue profile as well as block leakages in their tax administration system.