Edo Targets N6bn Monthly IGR from Land Transactions

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City

In order to keep Edo State afloat financially, the state government said it has set in motion to reap bountifully from land transactions with a target of N6 billion monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

The State Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Mr. Chris Osa Nehikhare disclosed this in Benin City over the weekend.
He said the monthly target would take effect from January, 2023.

Nehikhare nevertheless assured that the burden of meeting the N6 billion IGR target would not be on the people already in the tax net, but through an expansion of the tax net by leveraging on land sale to make more money.
Defending the new revenue target, he said, “it is achievable because the government has a lot of land for sale and has also created an enabling environment for businesses and investments in the state to thrive.”

He added: “We must recognise and acknowledge that our land is our oil. The revenue generation will come from land-related matters and we will be putting in place all the necessary framework and laws to ensure we maximise all available tax collectable in our land administration.

“With N6 billion a month, we can do a lot more for Edo people. We will tackle the infrastructure deficits, we will be able to spend more on roads, schools and health care. We will employ more people, get the youths off the streets by developing and teaching them new skills while preparing them for the future.”
The commissioner noted that the state government decided to claim its land in the Irhirhi area, measuring about 1,226 hectares, which was invaded by illegal persons who criminally sold the land to unsuspecting members of the public, for the development of a new town.

Determined to impose law and order, Nehikhare said the police recently declared some people, involved in the illegal sale, wanted.
He added that while some of the actors have voluntarily gone to the police and cleared their names, others who are recalcitrant and have been linked with other crimes, like gun running, kidnapping and cultism would soon be declared wanted by the police who are still carrying out investigations. Nehikhare decried the unscrupulous action of some persons mostly in Edo South Senatorial district who are in the habit of grabbing other peoples’ parcel of land for sale when they are broke.

The commissioner who remarked that often times, the land encroachers declare war on neighboring communities, killing and maiming each other just to have “rights to sell land”, albeit illegally.

“Edo State government is serious about chasing these people, catching them and prosecuting them and enforcing the policy on land administration and building approvals and permits,” he insisted