•Eyes N30 billion in second quarter
Obinna Chima
Despite the decline in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) last year due mainly to the effects of COVID-19, Ogun State Government raked in N21 billion in the first quarter of this year. Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying the state has perfected plans to generate over N100 billion in 2021.
Abiodun spoke at a special Iftar (breaking of fast) with members of the House of Representatives, House of Assembly, State Executive Council, and the Body of Permanent Secretaries. He stressed that his administration was committed to putting the state on a strong financial and economic footing through creative governance.
The governor said the dip in the state’s IGR in 2020 was due to drop in earnings from the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), tax incentives given to industries in the state, and lack of revenue from the education sector.
He said the target for the second quarter of 2021 was N30 billion.
Abiodun stated, “Our IGR dipped in 2020 and there are some reasons for that – there was no Pay As You Earn (PAYE) for us during the COVID-19 period, we gave incentives to industries because they couldn’t work during that period, and because we are the education capital of the country, a lot of our IGR was coming from the tertiary institutions and because there were no students in schools, the revenue did not come in.
“Let me tell you what the good news is, the good news is that first quarter of 2021, we already got N21 billion.
“Last year, we did N58 billion, so we’ve already gotten half of what we got last year in one quarter. This present quarter, we will do at least N30 billion, and by the end of this year, by the grace of God, we will do over N100 billion in Ogun State.”
The governor said his administration discovered that Land Use Charge was not being paid in the state, stressing that it inherited a database of 14,000 people from the previous administration. He said the discovery led his administration to put in place mechanisms, which had helped the state to realise a database of Land Use Charge for over 1.5 million people. “This will translate into a lot for our administration,” he stated.
Abiodun stated that his administration would soon launch Ogun State Land Administration and Management System (OLAS) to help residents of the state who had built on government property to come and regularise their papers.
“That system using ICT, we are going to ensure that all those that have built, we are starting with government owned property alone, all those that have built on government property will have to come and regularise their papers,” he said, adding, “We are not talking about those that built on any other land, we are talking of government land alone, so we bring them in to regularise their papers.”
Commenting on the state of the nation and the intended reversal of the new minimum wage by some states, the governor said his administration, being one of the first to sign the minimum wage into law, was committed to the continuous payment of the new wage to its workforce.
He stated, “Not only did we implement it, my colleagues are now reversing the minimum wage because they can’t pay it. Some of my colleagues have even asked me if I am sure I can keep on paying the minimum wage, I told them that Ogun State is not like other states, that in Ogun State, we have to keep on paying the wage.
“So, I am committing to the very excellent public service that I have that I will continue to pay the minimum wage.”
Abiodun urged members of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), to democratically put their best candidates forward at the forthcoming local government elections in the state. He assured that everything would be done in consonance with the principles of democracy.
Speaking earlier, the deputy governor, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, commended the governor for his quality leadership, saying this is behind the giant strides of his administration in the last two years.
