Kemi Adeosun, the Ogun State commissioner for finance, has disclosed that the state is generating an average of N3 billion to N4 billion monthly revenue. He said government has reduced the inherited debt profile of N87 billion to N61.7 billion within two years of Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration through effective financial re-engineering.
Adeosun also revealed that government had recorded an average of 195 percent revenue increase from the state tertiary institutions, which stood at N2.68 billion as at March 2013 compared to N908 million generated same period last year, just as she said that government saves N100 million monthly from its recurrent expenditure through identification and elimination of ghost workers.
The commissioner, who spoke at the State’s 2013 ministerial press briefing in Abeokuta at the weekend, declared that the introduction of cashless policy for the revenue drive in the state ministries, departments and agencies even before Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) inclusion of the state for second phase, had blocked financial leakages in its MDAs and increased state revenue with the Ministry of Forestry recording 36 percent revenue increase in two months.
She said, “Internally generated revenue has been further increased to over N3 billion per month. Our focus is to grow our IGR from the current average of N3 billion to N5 billion monthly. Indeed it was gratifying when in March 2013 we crossed the N4 billion threshold for the first time.
“Introduction of cashless revenue collection policy in the state tertiary institutions has resulted in average 195 percent increase on reported revenues. The collection figure of January to March, 2013 stood at N2.68 billion compared to N908 million for the same period in 2012. The additional N1.7 billion is retained in the respective institutions for investment in education.
“As you are all aware, we inherited a debt profile of N87 billion in May 2011. We have worked assiduously to reduce it and by December 2011, our re-engineering efforts reduced it to N61,718,109,920 as published in our audited accounts for December 2011.
“Our December 2012 figures are at the final stages of being audited and I am proud to report that the figure has reduced marginally to N61,640 billion, that is despite taking N14.95 billion new loans in the year, we repaid an equal amount keeping the overall figure stable”.
She stated that government had strengthened the enforcement of the Residency Rule “with a number of court judgements being obtained against employers based in neighbouring states who failed to remit taxes due to Ogun State, including quoted companies”, adding that government would focus more on increasing the number of persons paying taxes and deploying cashless revenue policy to ensure that all funds due to Ogun State government are duly received.
