FCTA Targets N250Bn IGR

By: Nnachi Okafor

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has set an annual target of N250 Billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

Secretary, Economic Planning, Revenue Generation, and Public Private Partnership Secretariat (EPRGPPPS), Charles Chinedum Elechi, disclosed this during an interactive session on revenue generation, monitoring, and tracking exercise held with revenue officers of Secretariat, Departments and Agencies in Abuja, Friday.

The Secretary charged all heads and officers of revenue-generating SDAs to redouble their efforts in their revenue generation drive to boost the IGR profile of the Administration.

His words: “The objective of this meeting is to put heads together and lay down ground rules for effective revenue generation for the Administration”.

Elechi explained that the meeting was critical in view of the dwindling revenue profile of the FCT Administration, and therefore, urged all revenue SDAs to rededicate themselves towards improving on the collection.

He reiterated that the FCT Administration needs such funds to provide adequate and qualitative infrastructure for the residents of the FCT; believing that such actions are towards accelerated development and economic transformation of the Territory.
He reminded them that the days of oil boom revenue were 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 basic infrastructural facilities for FCT residents, so we must work hard and think out of the box,” he emphasized.

The Secretary further explained that, without revenue, government cannot provide public infrastructure such as good roads, hospitals, schools and other welfare services; adding that 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.

Elechi, therefore, urged all heads of revenue-generating SDAs to brace up to the challenges ahead by working in synergy with other stakeholders for effective revenue generation and tracking.
He charged all the SDAs to identify all revenue-yielding sources, pursue their revenue targets and block all loopholes and revenue leakages.

The Secretary informed the revenue officers of the need to build their capacity for optimum performance in revenue generation and management as well as achieving the mandate and target set for them by the Hon. Minister.

To underscore his total commitment to achieving his mandate, the Secretary pledged to support all revenue collecting agencies in the discharge of their duties to ensure effective revenue collection for the FCTA.
He also pledged to design ways of motivating revenue officers and Agencies for optimum performance.

Some of the SDAs include Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), FCT Inland Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), Department of Outdoor Advertising & Signage (DOAS), the FCT Water Board, Health & Environmental Services Secretariat, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Transport Secretariat, among others.