The internally generated revenue, IGR, for Anambra State has risen by 29.32 percent from N10.45bn in 2014 to N14.79bn in 2015, and is expected to hit about N36 billion or more by the end of 2016, giving the relentless effort of the state government.
The governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano, speaking through his Senior Special Adviser on IGR, Hon. Charles Okafor, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with The Authority on Saturday in Awka.
He said that the present administration has done so well in the area of improving the revenue base of the state by opening all necessary revenue windows, blocking every leakage, and marching words with action by placing the state above lack.
According to him, on assumption of office, the present government met the state realizing mere five hundred million (N500, 000,000), adding that, when the present government assumed office, it blocked leakages and opened more windows, realizing about N2.1billion as monthly IGR.
“This is why the present government does not owe its workers. We are among the few states in the federation that did not benefit from the bailout fund, yet, we are paying our workers.
“We have continued in providing basic infrastructure for Anambra citizens even in the face of dwindling Federal Allocation. This is part of the giant strides of the Obiano administration”, he said, adding, that the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has identified the eleven states of Ogun, Anambra, Borno, Edo, Bauchi, Abia, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba and Sokoto as the only states that recorded improvement in their 2014 records of revenue generation performance in 2015.
“Anambra came second in the chart behind Ogun State in the entire country; and we are happy”.
While commending the government and people of Anambra State for the giant stride, he urged all those resident in Anambra, including companies and industries to pay their taxes regularly to help the state government continue in the provision of basic infrastructure.
He further urged the state to strive more in boosting her IGR, stressing that, in terms of IGR volume, Anambra is still behind compared to Lagos state realizing a total of N268.23bn during the period under review, Rivers with N82.1bn, and Delta, with N40.81bn. (The Authority)
