Niger government says it has recover about N300 million as tax payment from some commercial banks and the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), which were debts owed the state government.
Mr Mohammed Etsu, Chairman of the State Board of Internal Revenue, disclosed this when he appeared before members of the state house of assembly at the plenary session in Minna on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lawmakers had, on Feb. 15, invited the chairman to appear before them to explain the strategies employed to improve the state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He explained that the commercial banks and AEDC, were owing the state about N500 million in taxes, leading to the sealing-up of their offices.
Etsu said the banks and the company were able to reduce their debts with N300 million as a result of compliance action taken against them.
He, however, said that the board had taken measures to improve the IGR of the state through human re-organisation, skills gap, introduction of integrated tax administration system, compliance and enforcement, tax payers service and online tax clearance.
He disclosed that over 70 per cent of staff of the board are management staff, adding that there was the need to employ junior staff for effective tax collections.
He disclosed that the monthly revenue generation of the state had improved from N500 million to about N1 billion, adding that the board has also initiated a private member bill for amendment of the law on revenue in order to strengthen the board.
In his contribution, Mr Abdullahi Garba (APC-Mokwa), lamented that most neighboring states are generating about N2 billion to N3 billion monthly, while Niger state, blessed with resources, is generating more than N1 billion.
He urged the board to explore all potentials of the state to improve the IGR, adding that most Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are not functioning due to inadequate access to funds.
Speaker of the House, Mr Abdullahi Bawa (APC-Tafa), called on the house committee on Finance to assist the chairman as well as meet with relevant stakeholders, consultants contracted by MDAs to proffer solutions on how to improve the IGR. (NAN)
