Industries in Nasarawa state, north central Nigeria are now major contributors to the state’s internally generated revenue, the governor has said.
Governor Abdullahi Sule said this during a media parley to give the stewardship of his first term in office in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
He said since the creation of Nasarawa state in 1996, Industries have barely contributed to revenue of the state, and it relied heavily on federal government allocations.
However, according to the governor, in recent times, the state has “raised the IGR from N7.1 billion to over N20 billion anually and as such, we can now pay salaries of our workers for months even without allocation from the federal government.
“Before I became the governor in 2019, Nasarawa State was not getting any revenue from industries because there was none.
“Today I can tell you that a significant amount of our revenue is from the various industries we have attracted, that are operating in different Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state.
“We have Olam Rice in Doma, Dangote Sugar Refinery in Awe LGA, Flour Mill Nigeria PLC in Toto, Azman Rice farm in Toto LGA and Marble Industry Gudi, Akwanga LGA respectively.
“More than 30 percent of the Marbles being sold at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja today is from Nasarawa State,” Sule noted.
In the agricultural sector, Sule said his administration has constructed so many rural roads that are facilitating the easy transportation of people and farm produce from rural communities to urban centers.
“We have also invested hugely in security to ensure that farmers and herders go about their economic activities without any fear of being attacked.
“Because of the enabling environments created by our administration, the state has been rated first in the production of sesame seeds, fifth in rice production, and second in cassava production among others,” he added.
Sule also said that the state in partnership with the private sector is currently building a Technology Village in Karu to harness the potential of Information Communication Technology (ICT).
He added that with the discovery of oil in Keana, the state would benefit immensely and it would boost the revenue when the exploration begins.
On worker’s welfare, the governor said he has implemented over 10 years of outstanding promotions of workers, given permanent employment to casual staff, and employed thousands of workers.
Gov. Sule also said that since he assumed office in 2019, workers and pensioners were being paid 100 percent of their salaries adding that the state is not owing workers salaries.
The governor therefore called on the people to vote for him again to enable him to sustain and improve on his achievements in the last four years.
The media parley which had in attendance journalists from print, and electronic media also featured a questions and answer segment.
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