Cash Collection Remains Criminal Offence As Kogi Targets N66.4bn IGR

The Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS) has warned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) against cash collection, declaring that the practice remains a criminal offence as the state intensifies efforts to increase its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N66.4 billion in 2027.

The target represents a 51.3 per cent increase over the current baseline of N43.9 billion.

The warning was issued during a strategic engagement between KGIRS and revenue-generating MDAs at the Service’s headquarters in Lokoja, where stakeholders reviewed existing revenue lines and explored ways of improving collections.

Speaking at the engagement, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Internally Generated Revenue, Dr Rahman Nasir Ichanyi, said all revenue collection processes must remain automated, transparent and traceable.

He urged the MDAs to be more creative and proactive in identifying legitimate revenue opportunities, stressing that improved revenue generation would enhance the government’s capacity to provide essential services and meet its obligations to the people.

Earlier, the Executive Chairman of KGIRS, Dr Sule Salihu Enehe, challenged the MDAs to deepen their understanding of revenue generation within their respective mandates and ensure that all revenue estimates were properly documented and accounted for.

Enehe, who was represented by the Director of Income Tax, Mr Emmanuel Yusufu, urged the MDAs to critically examine their existing revenue lines, identify areas of improved collection, activate dormant sources and explore legitimate opportunities for expanding their revenue bases.

He said achieving the N66.4 billion target would require collective responsibility, improved efficiency and stronger collaboration between KGIRS and the revenue-generating MDAs.

The engagement, according to the Service, is part of its broader strategy to consolidate the gains recorded under the leadership of Enehe and sustain the expansion of the state’s revenue base.

Since Enehe assumed office in 2021, the Service said monthly IGR has risen from about N750 million in November 2021 to between N3.5 billion and N4 billion currently.

The growth has been attributed to reforms in tax administration, including increased automation and the introduction of a Central Billing System designed to reduce revenue leakages and improve collection efficiency.

KGIRS also said it was strengthening technology-driven revenue administration under the new law, with emphasis on compliance, transparency, documentation and the expansion of the state’s revenue base.

The stakeholders’ engagement provided a platform for KGIRS and the MDAs to assess revenue performance, identify gaps, activate dormant revenue lines and establish measurable pathways towards achieving the 2027 projection.

The Service said the sustained emphasis on automation, compliance and broader revenue mobilisation would strengthen the state’s revenue administration and position it to meet, and potentially surpass, its projected N66.4 billion IGR target.