Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (CFR), has inaugurated the Anambra State Board of Internal Revenue at Government Lodge, Amawbia.
Mr. Richard Madiebo is the Chairman of the Board who’s sole task is to increase the state’s internally generated revenue.
Executive Directors of the Board include; Dr. Greg Ugochukwu Ezeilo (Anambra South), Dr. Christian Madubuko (Anambra North), Mr. Benjamin Anierobi Okafor (Anambra Central).
Governor Soludo pointed out that the Internal Revenue Service is the life-blood of all government operations, emphasizing that if it doesn’t work, nothing works.
He also noted that results of the IGR are not even close to 50% of what he anticipated to achieve.
He stressed that he expected to have the revenue body doubled its initial revenue within its first four months, which did not happen.
“The state government should be making more than 3 billion naira per month, which has yet to happen, and that the 2023 budget is expected to generate 4 billion naira per month, stressing that the Anambra state government is running a deficit on IGR, which is one of the key projections,” he maintained.
“FAAC allocations are unpredictable, but we have an economy with an estimated value of up to 5 trillion naira.
*State of the board before inauguration*
“It is critical to highlight the enormous potentials that exist, as well as the appropriate benchmarks and targets.”
“If we have a 5 trillion naira estimate and collect 1%, that is 60 billion naira per year. If we collect 2%, that’s 120 billion naira per year, or a minimum of ten billion naira per month on average. If we receive 5% of income, we will have 300 billion naira per year.
“As of Monday, we were dangling around 1 billion naira per month, which is extremely low.”
“You can see how far we are doing in relation to the potentials that exist,” Soludo said.
“The internal revenue service requires a 180 percent turnaround. The current path we are taking will not get us very far because we have been trying it for a year,” the Governor started.
The Chairman of the board Mr. Madiebo thanked the Governor for the confidence reposed in them and promised that the board will live up to expectations
Those in attendance include; the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, Chief of Staff, Mr. Ernest Ezeajughi, Commissioner for Industry, Mr. Obinna Ngonadi, MD Ocha Brigade, Mr. Celestine Anaere among others.
Olusola Akintonde
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