Taraba govt. expresses concern over poor IGR

The Taraba Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Solomon Elisha, has expressed worries over poor internally-generated revenue (IGR) in the state.

Elisha expressed the concerns at a press briefing on the approved 2021 budget estimate of the state on Monday in Jalingo.

The commissioner, who said that the state had a projected revenue of N9.2 billion in 2021, however, said that deliberate policies were being put in place to boost the state’s IGR.

“From our projection this year, 36.64 percent of our expected revenue will come from statutory allocation, 14.67 percent from internal loans, 10.6 percent from Value Added Tax (VAT) and 8.80 percent from capital receipts.

“Our IGR is expected to bring in the least revenue of 6.55 percent.

“This is worrisome and you will agree with me that there is the need for a paradigm shift from dependence on external sources to internal ones.

“All hands must be on deck to explore the abundant untapped resources so as to actualise our dream of becoming the leading economy in the North-East zone.

“Already, government has set up a committee to look at how to boost our IGR, block all leakages and make the state IGR-independent. The committee is about completing its job,” he said.

Elisha explained that the 2021 budget was focused on completing all ongoing projects across the state, in spite of the economic downturn and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also added that N141.6 billion, representing 6.13 percent of the budget, was set aside to address COVID- 19-related projects and programmes in the state.