50 villages deserted in my State, says Niger Governor as he pushes for more IGR

Worried over dwindling resources to meet state needs and the recent insecurity and its fallout, the Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has raised an alarm that not less than 50 villages across  five Local Government Areas have been deserted and are creating a humanitarian crisis.

“As we speak we have not less than 50 villages deserted across five local governments now. Where do we get the resources to take care of them if 80% of our resources goes to those that do not add value to the system? 

“Now we have to deal with humanitarian problems and security problems. All these require resources that we do not have. So the only way we can survive is to increase our IGR. 

“At the moment we have over 3,000 IDPs in Minna, apart from other local governments,” Sani Bello stated at the opening of a two-day workshop on strategies for enhancing Internally Generated Revenue of Local Government Councils in Minna, Niger State. 

He acknowledged that  the workshop was apt, stressing the need for local government Councils to look inwards  and strengthen Internally Generated Revenue by expanding the tax net so as to meet the increasing demands in their Local Government Areas in particular and the State in general. 

He noted that the present IGR could not sustain the developmental aspirations of the State particularly with the security challenges that have bedeviled some parts of the State, stressing that while Government is making efforts to boost its revenue, it must block leakages, cut down cost, adding that it will not hesitate to do away with Local Government staff that are not adding value. 

The Governor urged participants to be attentive, actively participate and make meaningful contributions that will give them more insight into strategies of enhancing IGR for socioeconomic development at the local government levels. 

Chairman, Local Government Service Commission,  Muhammad Ahmed Dabban, and the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Nuhu Garba Ngaski, in their separate remarks explained that the workshop was organized for Local Government Directors of Administration and Finance, Revenue officers as well as heads of finance of development areas in Niger State. 

They both said that the workshop is primarily to ensure proper and accurate implementation of financial memoranda, have internal control system for enhancing revenue collection by the councils, enhance capacity as well as improve the quality of participants in their respective duties among others at the local government levels. 

According to the resource person for the workshop, Malam Haruna Yahaya, the objectives of the workshop was to ascertain full understanding of revenue profile, develop comprehensive strategies to ensure enhanced revenue base of each local government, promote transparency and accountability.