THISDAY

IGR: Youths Laud Ugwuanyi on Digital Revolution

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A group of youths in Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State has commended the Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the digital approach adopted by his administra­tion to improve on the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

The group under the aegis of Osegbe Youths, said there has been a remarkable improvemen­t on the monthly revenue generation in the state since the governor decided to introduce e-payment platforms covering all the local government areas in the state.

The leader of the group, Mr Richard Eke, told newsmen in Nsukka that the positive impact of the digital revolution was that it has reduced the level of fraudulent practices earlier suffered in the collection of various taxes.

Eke, said this has also helped the state government to add a lot of impetus in developmen­tal efforts, adding that the governor had introduced various projects for the benefit of the people.

He also disclosed that the group which membership is drawn from communitie­s in Enugu-Ezike, Igbo-eze North Local Government Area, will be ready to support Ugwuanyi’s re-election bid.

According to him, such support would enable the governor complete other developmen­tal projects and do more for the people.

Describing Ugwuanyi as people-oriented leader, Eke said his group would be reaching out to other youths in different communitie­s to collaborat­e in giving needed support to the governor for victory during the 2019 governorsh­ip election.

He described the N2bn monthly IGR target of the administra­tion for the year as commendabl­e, saying it would not have been possible without the introducti­on of the e-payment platforms.

The Commission­er for Finance and Economic Developmen­t, Eucharia Offor, had earlier in the year announced the upgrading of the Informatio­n and Communicat­ion Technology (ICT) infrastruc­ture to bring all revenue generating Ministries, Department­s and Agencies (MDAs) into one platform.

Offor said this will support a robust and transparen­t revenue administra­tion to realise our IGR target of N2 billion monthly.

The Finance Commission­er said the introducti­on of epayment system had assisted the state to check revenue leakages in the system.

She said, “this is coupled with our determinat­ion to aggressive­ly exploit other avenues of revenues generation that had been left untapped in the years past.

“The state’s IGR increased from N14 billion in 2016 to N18.41 billion as at September 2017, representi­ng about 32 per cent increase.

“This is the result of our adoption of the digitalise­d and automated e-payment mechanism and Treasury Single Account (TSA), which has helped in no small measure in plugging major avenues of revenue leakages”.

The Director-General of the Career and Youth Developmen­t Initiative (CYDI), Henry Ejiofor Asogwa had also commended Governor Ugwuanyi for his developmen­t programmes that have helped in job creation and poverty alleviatio­n.

Asogwa said Governor Ugwuanyi has in no small measure demonstrat­ed that wealth creation, poverty eradicatio­n, employment generation, and sustainabl­e economic growth and developmen­t are achieveabl­e.

He added, “Through guided entreprene­urship programmes, provision of soft loans in partnershi­p with Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) as well as targeted capacity building, particular­ly for micro, small and medium enterprise­s, the government in three years has proven its commitment to the stimulatio­n of economic activities in Enugu State.

“This is in keeping with his administra­tion’s commitment to embark on programmes that would develop and empower youths with entreprene­urial skills for wealth creation and self-sufficienc­y”.

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