My administration is committed to translating revenue into tangible improvements — Gov Adeleke

Osun Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, and his administration are committed to translating revenue into tangible improvements in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social welfare across Osun.

The governor, who made the disclosure while declaring open a three-day retreat on the implementation of the new tax acts in the state on Tuesday, said taxation remains the most reliable and sustainable source of public revenue for any responsible government.

According to him, “When it is properly structured and efficiently administered, it provides the resources needed to build infrastructure, support social services, strengthen institutions and promote economic development. A functional tax system is therefore central to good governance.”

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Adeleke, who was represented by Hon. Teslim Igbalaye, the Secretary to the State Government, remarked that, ” as a government, we are committed to transparency and accountability in the use of public funds as citizens are more willing to pay taxes when they see a visible impact.”

He, however, stated that the event was timely and necessary as the New Tax Acts are not designed to place undue burden on citizens or businesses.

The governor stressed; “The new framework is pro-business and investor-friendly. It recognises the role of small and medium-scale enterprises in driving growth and job creation. It also provides a structured pathway for bringing the informal sector into the formal economy in a gradual manner that is fair and supportive.”

In his own submission, the Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Taxes, Hon. Kamarudeen Ajisafe
described the retreat as a necessity, saying it is a significant step towards ensuring a shared understanding and successful implementation of the new tax law.

“I charge all stakeholders to remain committed to making the new tax law a tool for progress, prosperity, and shared responsibility in Osun and Nigeria at large.”

Also speaking, the Acting Chairman of the Osun Internal Revenue Service (OIRS), Mr. Solanke Hamzat, said, “The retreat is designed to educate residents on the facts surrounding the new tax reform, their responsibilities under the law, and the opportunities available to taxpayers.

“Discussions would also focus on identifying opportunities to grow Osun’s internally generated revenue while addressing revenue gaps arising from exemptions granted to low-income earners.

“We are here to have a retreat, which we call stakeholders engagement and implementation of the 2025 tax reform act. The residents will be very much more aware of the facts surrounding the new tax reform, and they will also have the opportunity to know their responsibility, what they are expected to do, what is expected of them in terms of complying with the law, and the opportunities they can take from the law.

“The next day is going to be the formal sector, private organisation sector (the banks, business owners, industry owners, captains of industry). They will know what their rights and responsibilities are in terms of tax and revenue, where they can leverage to have benefits, and where they can also leverage to have reliefs, especially through recapitalisation.

“Then the third day, we have the key informal sectors where we have artisans, the traders men and women, the iyalojas and babalojas, other people who are doing trading,” he added.

“The retreat or stakeholders engagement is a three-layer process, the first one, which we’re having right now, is with the government personalities, so the government people talking about the Internal Revenue Service, revenue generating.“