Kaduna IGR No Longer Sufficient To Carry Out Developmental Projects – Yero

Mukhtar Ramalan yeroGovernor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna State on Tuesday expressed concern over what he described as the dwindling internally generated revenue of the state.

He said the IGR was no longer sufficient for development.

Yero said rather than depending on the state IGR and the meagre allocation from the Federation Account, the state would soon commence a developmental programme which would serve tax paying residents.

The governor said this in Kaduna on Tuesday while inaugurating Point of Sales Terminal for the revenue collection, powered by Skye Bank.

Yero noted that the state government had a huge budget that is expected to be financed by the internally generated revenue but regretted that IGR had been stagnant with about N1bn generated monthly.

The governor said he had no option than to develop new and accountable means of revenue collection in the state.

“It is against this background that we have introduced POS to check revenue leakages and other challenges associated with tax collection”, he said.

Taking a swipe at critics of government, Yero said they were mostly tax evaders.

The governor said, “Only civil servants have been up to date in tax payment in Kaduna State, and I know it is not because many of them want to pay, it is because the taxes are being deducted from source.

“Politicians don’t pay their taxes until when they need tax clearance from Board of Internal Revenue for election purpose. Therefore, subsequently, if residents of Ungwar Rimi pay their taxes regularly and residents of Sabo don’t pay theirs, we will be forced to concentrate development on Ungwar Rimi”.