IGR: Ogun Generates N75bn in Nine Months

James Sowiole in Abeokuta

The Ogun State Government has realised not less than N75 billion as internally generated revenue in the last nine months.

The state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, disclosed this when he played host to members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Abiodun stated that the state was working towards surpassing the N75 billion IGR figure next year.

The governor explained that his administration decided to take advantage of the Value Added Tax (VAT) controversy with a view to ensure that Ogun gets a fair share from the money being generated from the system.

He lamented that despite the huge revenue being generated from VAT, the state’s share does not reflect what it generates, insisting that the state’s action on the issue was to ensure fairness.

“We have joined the fray on the Value Added Tax because we believe that a state like us, which generates huge fund from it, is not getting fair share of the proceeds. Not only are we producing, we are also a consuming state.

“We generate so much money yet, we don’t have a bigger chunk of that same fund that we worked with our sweat and blood to generate,” he noted.

The governor lamented that the country is spending so much subsidising petroleum products, thus wasting fund needed to provide basic amenities which would fast-track development.

He told the ICAN leadership that his administration was strictly adhering to all the tenets of good governance.

On the state’s Accountability Index (AI) position of ICAN, he observed that Ogun has moved from the 29th to 19th position, expressing his administration’s desire to see the state in the first three positions next year.

Abiodun urged the Institute to look at ways of partnering with the state in the area of youth development, employment and empowerment, saying the Institute Entrepreneurship Training Centre being planned for the state was a welcome development.

Enumerating some of his administration’s achievements since he came on board, the governor hinted that housing projects sited across the state was part of the sustainability model strategy to generate employment and at the same time provide affordable houses for the people.

Speaking earlier, the ICAN President, Mrs. Comfort Olu Eyitayo, noted the exemplary leadership style of the governor, which she said has impacted positively on the health, education, youth development and other sectors of the economy of the state.

She said that the Institute has made its position known on topical issues such as VAT and the Petroleum Industry Act, adding that the Institute would soon embark on another round of Accountability Index assessment across the country.

She, however, pleaded for the cooperation of the state ministries, departments and agencies to enable it place the state in its rightful position.

Mrs. Eyitayo said the visit was part of the stakeholders’ engagement to reposition the Institute in order to make it stand out as a foremost accounting professional body in the country.