Ekiti State Governor, Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose has tasked the State Board of Internal Revenue, BIR and consultants working for the government on revenue generation to be more assiduous and improve on the internally generated revenue (IGR) to enable his government have more fund at its
disposal for developmental projects.
The governor gave the charge at a meeting held with the management of the state BIR, revenue generation consultants and other relevant stakeholders in his office in Ado at the weekend.
According to a press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Idowu Adelusi and made available to the press in Ado Ekiti last Saturday, Governor Fayose who reiterated that his government was in a hurry to develop Ekiti and make the people begin to enjoy the good things his administration promised said he needed more fund to execute his government’s blueprint for Ekiti development.
He told the meeting that he had no vested interest in anybody nor any consultancy firm for the job of improving the state IGR and will not relieve any consultant of his job in a hurry as long as he works in line with the government instruction and developmental time table but insisted that 50% of such consultants and people that work with them should be Ekiti indigenes.
“My concern here is getting the job done and getting the expected result rather than who does the job or where he comes from, but my people too should be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of their state and enjoy from it as well ”, Fayose concluded.
Noting that there are experts and professionals in all these areas in Ekiti, Governor Fayose explained that indigenous consultants and contractors, if given such opportunity are likely to be more committed as they will see it as opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of their state while drawing their workers from Ekiti will reduce unemployment among the people.
Corroborating the governor’s view on the issue, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Finance, Mr Toyin Ojo said the stakeholders meeting became very necessary to enable the government have the true picture of the state IGR with a view to finding ways of improving on it, more so that the former government has plunged the state into a huge debt.
He said the meeting has been very successive as both the government side and the consultants have agreed to work harmoniously and ensure that the state IGR improves as requested by the governor and that the modalities for this will be worked out with all the stakeholders.
The governor also announced the appointment of Mr. Ropo Ogunjobi as his Special Assistant on Internally Generated Revenue (SAIGR) at the meeting and the appointment takes immediate effect.
