The Nation Newspaper

Tag: internally-generated revenue

  • Amosun urges FG to accord Lagos, Ogun special status treatment

    Amosun urges FG to accord Lagos, Ogun special status treatment

    The Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun on Wednesday said Lagos and Ogun States should be accorded special treatment by the Federal Government because of their strategic economic significance to the nation.Amosun who threw his weight behind

    Amosun who threw his weight behind the call from Lagos State that the Centre of Excellence required special status in terms of funds allocation to it, said Ogun was next to Lagos in terms of non-oil revenue of the federal government.

    The Governor made this known at the on-going 8th National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    According to him,  more companies have their operational base in Ogun state as the it has officially become an industrial capital of the country.

    He noted that about 423 companies with a minimum of over 2 billion investment capital are currently operating from Ogun State.

    He said: “to this end, our Administration has continued to maintain and expand on existing infrastructures while new ones are being constructed. The results of these infrastructural developments are seen in the increase in investment inflow into Ogun State.

    “We have continued to reap the benefits of our prudent financial management and re-engineered our Internal Revenue Generation drive. We have increased our IGR from the modest sum of N700 million monthly which we inherited at the beginning of our Administration in 2011, to over N6Billion per month in 2014, though, currently reduced to an average of N4.8 billion monthly due to the current economic recession in the country.

    “As of now, our State is second only to Lagos State in the ratio of the monthly Internally Generated Revenue to the monthly FAAC allocation. This has allowed us to sustain payment of workers’ salaries, while also continuing with other development projects in all other sectors of our economy.

    “According to the 2014 Ease of Doing Business Subnational rankings, our State recorded the most improvement of all the 36 states in Nigeria. This was compared to the States very poor ranking of 34th at the inception of our administration in 2011.

    “We also introduced the concept of a “One Stop Shop” to assist Investors in their interactions with the government, particularly during their early stage. I am happy to report that about 423 major companies/industries are presently operating in the State, while over 100 new significant companies have opened shop since the advent of our Administration.

    “Even in our current harsh economic climate, another 14 are currently in the process of commissioning their industries/ factories. Indeed, we hope that Mr President, President Muhammadu Buhari will help to commission some of these industries before the end of the year. Ogun State is now officially the Industrial hub of the Nation.”

  • Lagos Assembly approves N59.3b budget for 57 local councils

    Lagos Assembly approves N59.3b budget for 57 local councils

    The Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday approved a budget of N59, 287,974,102 for the 20 local governments and local council development areas (LCDAs).

    The House gave the approval, following a debate on the report submitted by the ad-hoc committee headed by the Chief Whip, Rotimi Abiru.

    The House observed that most councils and LCDAs performed poorly in the area of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), among others.

    It, therefore, recommended the need to shore up their revenue generation drive to meet the needs of the people.

    A breakdown of the budget showed that Ifelodun LCDA got the highest vote of N1,632,880,355.48, followed by Apapa Local Government with N1,624,051,414.28.

    Agege Local Government got  N1,459,916,003; Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government, N1,557,825,411.00; Ikeja N1,001,105,683.16; Lagos Mainland N1,589,879,806.22 and Mushin Local Government Area, N1,139,863,539.33.

    Submitting the report of the committee,  Abiru said  the decision to scrutinise the budget of the councils was in consonance with Section 3 of the Local Government Council Committee Law, 2007.

     “Most councils and LCDAs  performed poorly in the IGR, hence their reliance on Federal Allocation.

    “Their overhead estimate was  bloated to the detriment of Capital  Expenditure.”

    In passing the budget, members urged the councils to explore all revenue sources and block leakages.

    They also urged them to give priority to capital expenditure so as to ensure physical development at the grassroots.

  • Council chief lifts youths with N6.4 million

    Council chief lifts youths with N6.4 million

    The Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State has given out cheques of N100, 000 each to 64 of its youths to invest in various trades.

    Presenting the cheques at the council’s secretariat, the council chairman, Mr. Dennis Nkiri, said one of the most effective ways to stem youths’ restiveness is by making sure they are meaningfully engaged.

    He said: “In every community, the youth form over 70 per cent of its population. So, if you do not take care of them, you are in trouble. We have an arrangement in which they help to collect the revenues at the wards. We are using a percentage of the internally-generated revenue (IGR) they raked in to empower them.

    “We have a programme of youth integration which is in line with our earlier promise during campaigns. So far, this is the third phase and it is continuous because our internally-generated revenue has increased to about N10m monthly. So, each of the 64 youths has been given cheques of N100, 000.

    ”Those wards that produce more IGR will get more empowerment and this empowerment will be a continuum.  Before now, we could hardly get N50, 000 as IGR per month because the villagers were taking over the revenue collection. It was only recently that the state government assisted us to get this formula that has helped to improve our collection impressively.”

    He also said the council has so far empowered 120 women in different fields of endeavours since 2011, adding that the latest beneficiaries are expected to utilise the funds given to them on farming.

    Beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the council, even as they promised they would put the funds to good use.