FCT Targets to Outpace Lagos in Internally Generated Revenue

FCT Targets to Outpace Lagos in Internally Generated Revenue

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The FCT Minister Muhammed Musa Bello has tasked the newly inaugurated Mandate Secretaries, Heads of various specialized agencies and Departments and senior political aides of the FCT Administration to ensure the territory overcomes Lagos State as number one in Internally Generated Revenue in the country.

The minister made the appeal on Tuesday during the inauguration of the mandate secretaries.

He said the FCT has the potential to be number one in the country in IGR and is determined to overce Lagos.

The minister noted that as one of the fastest growing and most dynamic cities in the world,

Abuja earnestly requires enormous funds to meet its requirement for infrastructure upgrade and expansion.

The FCT currently according to projections has a population in excess of five million people which is increasing exponentially.

“This population growth naturally drives up demands for educational, health, transportation, waste management, security and housing services. The inability to meet up with this burgeoning demands (largely due to inadequate finances) has led to overstretched facilities, and in extreme cases, criminal and other anti-social scenarios,” Bello said.

He said increased IGR will help in completion of on-going and abandoned projects that administration inherited from the previous Administration.

He said the antecedents and proven track records of the appointees in their various areas of specialization have earned them the appointments, urging them to always live up to the confidence reposed in them by the President and others in the discharge of their responsibilities.

The minister challenged the Mandate Secretaries and other relevant appointees to immediately key into on-going activities within their jurisdiction and help drive it further with more purpose and grit.

He identified public transportation to be high on the agenda, stressing the determination of the administration not to repeat the mistakes of the past where government’s direct involvement in managing public transportation cost the administration astronomical sums of money with very little concomitant benefits.

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