Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State has disclosed that the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has risen from N2.6bn to N3.8bn in less than a year.
He stated this while addressing the Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria which took place in Abuja.
“The tremendous improvement recorded in the state’s IGR was as a result of the formidable measures introduced by his administration on tax collection and management.
“When we came on board, the taxation system we met was not very encouraging due to sharp practices that bedevilled both the collection and utilisation of the internally generated revenue.
“We then introduced measures that sanitised the entire system of revenue collection and management in the state,” he stated.
As a result of the rise in the IGR, the governor said his administration was able to raise more funds which were being judiciously used to improve the quality of lives of the electorate.
He added that the present administration has executed various people-oriented projects cutting across road networks, water supply, empowerment programmes and improving the health conditions of the people of the state, among others.
Gov Aliyu assured the CITN of his administration’s commitment to collaborating with the body to further enhance tax collection in the state.
The president of the Chartered Institute of Nigeria, Samuel Agbeluyi, described taxation as an essential tool in meeting the demands of the citizenry, hence the need for the conference to explore more ways through which tax collection could be enhanced in the country.
He said the annual conference was meant to discuss extensively on how to improve on the mandate of CITN.
