The Kaduna State Commissioner of Planning and Budget Commission (PBC), Hon. Mukhtar Ahmed, has said that the state has capacity to generate 150 billion naira monthly revenue from tax payers if there is compliance.
The Commissioner stated this in his keynote address to a stakeholders engagement organised by the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), themed; “Unlocking Revenue Potential: A Collaborative Strategy for Sustainable Growth through a Centralized Payment Gateway in Kaduna State”.
Ahmed argued that automation of collection systems, inter-agency collaboration/synergy and vigorous sensitisation are keys to achieving desired targets, noting that compliance is the major challenge in revenue generation in Kaduna State.
According to him: “Look at all the beautiful houses in Kaduna and the businesses; we need to support the government by paying our taxes.”
Ahmed said there is a possibility where what is coming from the centre may dry-up one day, “and we are approaching a stage where people are becoming aware of needs on what they want the government to do for them.
“It has to do with partnership now between the citizens and the government, where it can only work if the state has money; and where is that money? Government does not only come up to disclose amounts that are coming; even the one coming from the federal is just a budget; sometimes it doesn’t come, depending on the situation,” he said.
The commissioner therefore stated that if the state has a stable internally generated revenue where the sources are known, it would be easy to work together by supporting the citizens with the IGR; adding that, no budget functions without revenue.
“Any budget that doesn’t have a revenue side of it is not a budget but a dream.”
He said that his Commission was putting a lot of focus on revenue generating agencies in the state, hence it identified about 13 of them, which he called ‘the big billionaires,’ which are given targets of one billion naira and above; adding that he will meet with them on quarterly basis.
“Sometimes we call them before the quarter ends to see how we can work together and bring out programs and address challenges, so they meet their targets”.
The Executive Director, Standards and Compliance of the KADIRS, Ali Gora, said the essence of the engagement was to educate the stakeholders on what the agency is doing and to get feedback on their plights. (The Nation)
