Abia gov targets increased IGR

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has charged participants of the Internal Generated Revenue retreat organised by the state government to craft an enduring strategy that would lead to improvement in the state IGR to make the state fiscally viable.

The governor gave the charge at the Government House in Umuahia, during a special presentation of the outcome of the report of the two-day retreat for IGR stakeholders in the ministries, departments and agencies of the state government.

He said he expects a situation where the state’s IGR would spike up and take over provisions for loans to finance the 2024 budget.

He said, “If we do what we should do and we do them right, then there is no reason why the over N400bn that is supposed to be raised as loans should not be reduced to the barest minimum.

“So, we expect a situation and a scenario where Internally Generated Revenue would spike up and take over our provisions for loans.

“So, in simple English, what I am saying is that we believe that by the end of the year, we will not borrow as much money as we had put in the budget.”

He said that elsewhere, the government generates income and undertakes expenditure, described as a misnomer, a situation where sub-nationals go to the centre cap in hands for allocation.

He expressed hope that if the right thing is done, by the end of the year, the state should not have borrowed as much as it puts in the budget.

Otti also used the occasion to speak more on the repealing of the pension law for ex-governors and their deputies in the state.

He said, “So when you saw that we put through our resolve to cut the cost of governance by stopping frivolous payments to people who have left government (former Governors and their Deputies), it is because we just believe that the right thing should be done.

“Very soon we will also be former governors. So, the policy is not targeted at anyone, it’s targeted at good governance, it’s targeted at reduction in the cost of governance. And quite frankly, we believe it is the right thing to do.

“We don’t believe that politics is a business. We believe that people should have things they are doing before coming to serve. And if you have offered yourself to serve, then you should be willing to make the required sacrifices.

“If you find yourself in this place, you should count yourself lucky that people believe in you, and give you their support and their votes, it is a privilege and the least that is expected of you is to make sacrifices for the betterment of the State. So, the days of sharing money are over, the days of blood-tonic politics are also over. This is the time to make sacrifices for the interest of the State.”

In his speech, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Mike Akpara, said there was a need to change the narrative, adding that the government must do things differently through the generation of enormous IGR.

While explaining that the government would not tax people unduly, he said that all taxes would be based on things the government promised the people and called for all hands to be on deck to generate enough revenue for the state.

“If we want to reduce our debt burden, we must do something differently. We will not continue to do what we’ve been doing before and expect a different result. And what are we going to do? We are going to generate a quantum of Internally Generated Revenue, and that is the way to go.”