The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is set to embark on aggressive internally revenue with an annual target of over N250 Billion.
The Mandate Secretary, Economic Planning, Revenue Generation and Public Private Partnership Secretariat (EPRGPPPS), Charles Chinedum Elechi, in an interactive session on revenue generation, monitoring and tracking exercise in Abuja, today , October 6, charged all heads and officers of revenue-generating Secretariats, Departments and Agencies (SDAs) to redouble their efforts in revenue generation drive to boost the financial profile of the Administration.
Elechi lamented the dwindling revenue profile of the FCT Administration, reminding the officers that the days of oil boom revenue was over, giving way to the generation of IGR to drive the machinery of governance.
“The days of oil boom revenue have gone. What is in vogue is the generation of IGR to drive the machinery of governance in the FCT. A good IGR can do a lot of magic.
“As you are aware, revenue generation is critical to the development and sustenance of every economy and infrastructural development. In this regard, it is very important to inform you that the FCT Administration is saddled with the responsibility of providing many basic infrastructural facilities for FCT residents.”
The Secretary said: “without revenue, government cannot provide public infrastructure such as good roads, hospitals, schools and other welfare services. Improved IGR is paramount to the funding of the Administration to augment the dwindling Federal Government’s Monthly Statutory Allocations for accelerated infrastructural development in the FCT. Therefore, there is a strong need for all us to redouble our efforts to attain our IGR targets and deliver on these enormous responsibilities.”
Elechi therefore advised all heads of revenue-generating SDAs to work in synergy with other stakeholders for effective revenue generation and tracking. He charged every SDA to identify all revenue-yielding sources, pursue their revenue targets and block all loopholes and revenue leakages.
“From all indications, part of the major challenges we face in revenue generation and collection is the problem of revenue leakage and inefficient harmonization of taxes and levies. “However, I learnt that Management had made serious efforts in this direction through the creation of a tax and revenue harmonization committee to address the challenges.”
He said that the committee is responsible for harmonizing all taxes, levies and revenues collectibles in the FCT, while rationalizing the tax system to reduce the incidence of multiple taxation and unnecessary conflicts that may arise from revenue collection in line with global best practices.
The Mandate Secretary stressed the need for the officers to build their capacity for optimum performance in revenue generation and management as well as achieving the mandate and target set for them.
“Beyond that, we need to explore ways of building the capacity of our revenue officers to improve their skills and knowledge in revenue collection and administration. This is very critical if we must achieve the mandate and target set for us.”
