Dwindling revenue: Lawmaker urges states to boost IGR
By Joshua Olomu
The Speaker of Taraba House of Assembly, Mr John Kizito, has called on states to focus on productive activities to boost internally generated revenue (IGR) following the dwindling revenue from federation account.
The Speaker made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of a training on effective public finance management on, Tuesday in Abuja.
The capacity building programme is with the theme ,“Integrating Strategic Partnership with Critical Stakeholders for Transparency and Accountability in Public Financial Management.”
The three-day event is organised by Taraba Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with Gembujo Blobal Consult Ltd, for officers of the ministry and its agencies.
According to Kizito, as Nigeria seeks to diversify its economic mainstay from oil, amidst the prevailing dwindling revenue which has affected statutory allocations, the state government needs to look inward.
“You must always, in whatever situation you find yourself, make sure you have an alternative, which is your plan B.
“So governments must have something to fall on in the state once they have problems in coming to Abuja to get something from the federation account.
“Diversification of economy is an old story in Tarabae, because we are an agrarian state and we have been able to take advantage of it.
“Our governor recently took further steps by going to buy tractors and encouraging ventures in the area of Agriculture, mining and other sectors.
“So the essence of this training is to look inwards, to see areas within the state that we can always look into to improve and assist in the running of governance,” he said.
Earlier, Dr Sarah Enoch, Taraba Commissioner of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, said the training was part of the ministry’s commitment to accountability and prudent public financial management.
Enoch, who was represented by Mr Sirgawi Dugule, Permanent Secretary, Finance ministry, said the capacity building workshop serves as a forum to strengthen collaboration among the Ministry and her agencies.
“The decline in revenue generation has really affected development and growth in the country, and Taraba is not an exception to this trend.
“To this end, there is a need for all agencies under the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning to work together as a team in order to make every public fund count.
“This capacity building training is apt as it aims at aligning the Ministry’s agencies to meet and fulfill the Moving Forward Agenda championed by Governor of Taraba , Dr Agbu Kefas.
“This capacity building workshop serves as a forum to strengthen collaboration among the Ministry and her agencies, as it will enable us to share knowledge and expertise, and learn from one another.
“This will invariably help us to chart a clear path for addressing challenges we are facing and proffer solutions to those identified challenges,” she said.
Enoch said the ministry would always support any initiative and strategy that will catapult the state to an enviable position in the sub-nationals.
Prof. Saidu Adamu, Managing Partner of Gembujo Blobal Consult Ltd, Consultant of the programme, said the 3-day training was geared towards ensuring that participants get well equipped as public funds managers.
He urged participants to remain focused while the training lasts, and ensure that they apply what they would learn in their service to the state government.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Joseph Edeh
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