Governor Simon Lalong, during the flag off of the new IGR regime in Plateau State on Thursday.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – Governor Simon Lalong, on Thursday flag off a revenue drive saying that Plateau State targets N3 to N5 billion monthly as internally generated revenue.
This is coming few weeks after the Governor signed into law the State Revenue Law, Property and Land Use Charge Law as well as the Plateau Geographic Information Systems Law.
The Governor said the exercise is aimed at changing the income of the State to pave way for funding of more projects and programmes which are currently hindered because of lack of funds.
While flagging off the exercise at the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service Headquarters in Jos, Lalong who paid the ground rent charges for his personal property, said he decided to lead by example in order to demonstrate to the citizens that nobody is above the law or will be left out in the process.
Having personally performed the civic responsibility, he said, he will not intervene on behalf of any tax defaulter.
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“I plead with every citizen particularly the ‘big men’ to comply because I will not entertain anyone begging me to intervene when the law catches up with you. All of us are subject to the law and those who run against the law will bear the consequences.”
“Since assuming office, our administration has continued to make frantic efforts towards improving the revenue profile of the State by looking inwards for more internally generated revenue.”
“By the results of various professional analyses and assessments, it has been firmly established that we have been performing far below our capacity in internal revenue generation despite our huge potentials. Experts project that Plateau State has an internal revenue capacity of more than N5 Billion monthly.”
“Even though we have made some progress at changing the situation, the continuous decline in Federal allocation and the global economic effects of COVID-19 has made us to move expeditiously to radically harvest internal revenue which we have neglected over the years.”
“Having inaugurated the Plateau State Revenue Council as well as rejigged the Governing Board of the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service, we are now set to begin our sustained internal revenue drive. I am leading by example, I am paying the ground rent on Land Use Charge on my property.”
“I want to reiterate that all Heads of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments who fail to deliver their monthly contributions to the revenue pool, will be held accountable. This is the time to reward hard work and punish indolence, non-performance and laziness.”
Earlier, the Executive Chairman of the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service, PSIRS, Dashe Arlat added that the exercise which involves taxpayer sensitization; awareness creation; on-the-spot inspection of registration licenses and permits; is a continuous one that will be sustained.
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He called on citizens to fulfil their civic responsibility of voluntarily paying all taxes, levies, fees and fines to grow the State’s IGR disclosing that “after the period of sensitization and persuasion elapses, the Government shall begin enforcement and whoever fails to comply, will face the law.”
To the MDAs and business community, the Chairman said, “I implore you to strictly adhere to the provisions of the tax law by registering your businesses with PSIRS and remitting your taxes to its coffers. As I commend those that are doing well in paying taxes, I encourage others to do same.”
Meanwhile, the Governor and other top government officials paid visits to some business premises to sensitise them and seek their cooperation for improved revenue generation.
Organizations visited including First Bank Nigeria PLC, UBA and Onigbinde Stores all assured they will do their best to ensure that the revenue drive succeeds.
