The Niger State Board of Internal Revenue has commenced the blocking of all revenue generation leakages and target N1.5 billion internally generated revenue monthly.
The Executive Chairman of the board, Mohammed Madami Etsu, disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Minna.
Etsu said the board has adopted the Integrated Tax Administration System through the deployment of high-quality ICT in tax collection, using Minna and Suleja as pilot towns for the project. He further stated that the monthly internally generated revenue had increased by almost N400 million from N700 million it was before his appointment to over N1.1 billion.
According to him, this has been made possible with the innovations and modernization of the revenue administration system embarked upon by the board.
“With the automation of our tax system, we are expecting considerable changes and improvements in our IGR within three months. We started this in Suleja and Minna as pilot schemes before extending it to other cities,” he said.
He lamented that the state had been 10 years behind compared with other states in the use of ICT in revenue collections, adding that, “however, we want to be among the best 10 states in terms of internally generated revenue in the country.”
“The state was collecting about N700 million monthly before my appointment, but this has increased to N1.1 billion in the month of May due to the restructuring that we have done. However, in this month of June, we are targeting N1.5 billion and we hope to subsequently maintain this amount monthly for the rest of the year.”
He said priority would also be accorded to staff remuneration to motivate them, but warned against corrupt practices that could portray the board in a bad light.
He further warned the staff and tax defaulters to desist from such acts, stressing that “anyone caught in such acts will face the wrath of the law.”
