Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), has said that the total IGR of States grew from NGN1.31 trillion in 2019 to NGN1.67 trillion in 2021 and the share of IGR (as % of total recurrent revenue) grew from 31% in 2019 to 35% in 2021.
Fayemi, who is also the Governor of Ekiti State disclosed this at the 8th IGR Peer Learning Event and Launch of the NGF Public Finance Database in Abuja on Monday.
He noted that the growth was the result of the resolve of the governors in 2019 to be deliberate with reforming subnational tax administrations to become more efficient and effective.
The NGF Chairman emphasized the need to sustain and advance the momentum of reforms, considering the decline in FAAC receipts.
He said, “The event today beckons a nostalgic feeling, as it reminds me of a collective decision we took as governors in 2019 to be deliberate with reforming our tax administrations to become more efficient and effective. “Consensus reforms were focused on ending multiple taxations; professionalizing and modernizing our revenue services; embracing a taxpayer-centric culture that eases taxpayer compliance and strengthens the existing social contract.
“This pact birthed the State Action Plan for Revenue Generation (SAPRG), whose implementation progress we will be examining today with the objective of underscoring what has worked and what we need to do better to foster an enabling tax environment and administration that allows us to optimize our revenue potential as sub-nationals.
“Our pursuit to do things differently has benefitted from the relentless efforts of our state officials, technical assistance programmes within our Secretariat, and partners’ support.
“Your collaboration and support have ensured we stay the course of implementation, delivering far-reaching reforms, which have yielded the results we see today.
“We have seen the total IGR of States grow from NGN1.31 trillion in 2019 to NGN1.67 trillion in 2021 and the share of IGR (as % of total recurrent revenue) grow from 31% in 2019 to 35% in 2021. While this is good progress, we must not lose sight of the need to sustain and advance the momentum of reforms, considering the decline in FAAC receipts” he said.
Fayemi urged the governors to seek out ways to expand the tax net and improve our taxpayer database.
The NGF boss officially launched the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) Public Finance Database, describing it as Nigeria’s first reference database for State-level public finance data.
According to him, the database reiterates the governors’ commitment to fiscal transparency and accountability as well as their resolve to strengthen governance in the country.
Earlier, Mr. Asishana Okauru, the Director General of NGF gave insights into the event saying that the IGR Peer Learning Event provides a forum to share lessons on State-level tax reforms and how states can strengthen their work to improve domestic revenue mobilization in the country.
According to him, the country’s first open-source database of the fiscal data of the 36 state governments which were launched would host comparable annual data on government spending, revenues, and financing in all states, and will feature hundreds of performance indicators that measure the quality of public spending and the intersection of public financial management and service delivery in the country.
By Chidi Ugwu,
Independent News