Oyo will hit N5 billion IGR monthly before I leave office ―Ajimobi

Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, on Wednesday, asserted the resolve of the state government to increase its monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N5 billion before end of his second term.

Ajimobi, who made this assertion at a media interaction, in Ibadan, on Wednesday, decried tax evasion by some residents and drop in amount derived from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) owing to irregular payment of salaries, as a challenge in internal revenue generation.

He however avowed the resolve of the state government to, more than ever, tax all taxable entities in expanding the tax net and thereby increase the state’s IGR over the course of coming months.

According to Ajimobi, the state’s IGR would be enhanced from newly created estates, industrial park and other investment inflow.

“We want people to pay tax, we charge them but they don’t pay. The market people also lament lack of sales, we arrest people on the streets, we charge people, but they say government does not have human face.”

“We have doubled our IGR since we came in. Before May 2019, I guarantee you that our Internally Generated Revenue will hit N5 billion a month. We are growing it gradually.”

“When we came in, our IGR hovered between N900 million and N1 billion, and we paid salaries regularly. About 60 percent of that IGR came from PAYE.”

“Now that we do not paying salaries regularly, PAYE has dropped by a minimum of 50 percent and it has gone out of our IGR.”

“We have expanded our tax net and within the next one year, we will record more increase in our IGR. Now we have created four new estates, industrial park and we will get taxes from that.”

“The more employment we create, the more investment, our IGR will shoot up. Our IGR will increase and I believe we will get there,” Ajimobi said.

Furthermore, he reiterated the need for fiscal federalism and unbundling of some items on the exclusive list, to enable states harness their mineral resources for its running.

Meanwhile, the Oyo state government has entered into a partnership with Siemens and Solus MRF1 for generation of alternative power sources in the state.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Wednesday at Governor’s office, Ibadan, is targeted at generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity and providing independent power plants across the zones of the state.

In his comments at the signing of the MOU, Ajimobi said the collaboration would improve power supply in the state.

Speaking, General Manager, Siemens, Mr Nasir Giwa said the collaboration would enable the state generate power and become a net exporter of power to the national grid.