The Ogun Government said on Wednesday that it planned to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from the average monthly figure of N4.1 billion to N7 billion.
The Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, announced this in Abeokuta at the 2014 Ministerial Press Briefing.
Adeosun said that the measure had become necessary to cushion the adverse effects of the dwindling income from the Federal Allocation Committee (FAC).
“The persistent drop in federal allocation has created financial challenges across the nation.
“This has been felt very severely at state government level.
“Specifically, our funds from federal government fell from a monthly average of N5.01 billion to N3. 83 billion between September, 2013 and March, 2014, representing 26 per cent reduction.
“With the ever-increasing responsibilities of the government, therefore, we must not only sustain the current level of the IGR, we must also target and achieve an increased amount.”
The commissioner expressed optimism that the new target would be achieved given the increased level of willingness of people to pay tax and other forms of levies.
She said that the government would also strengthen its cashless revenue policy to ensure that all funds due to it were duly received.
“If we could move from a level of a monthly average of N 2.7 billion in 2103 to N 4.11 billion in March, 2014 in our IGR, then we can achieve a monthly average of N7 billion with the co-operation of our people,” she said.
