Kogi Targets N4bn Monthly IGR Against Current N3bn

By; ADAMA JOHN, Lokoja

The Executive Chairman, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), Salihu Enehe has said that the state revenue raking machine has surpassed the estimated N750m Naira monthly to N3bn even as he plans to rake in N4bn in no distant time.

He said that with him at the helm of affairs and the committed members of the team, the sky is the limit in the economic generation drive of the service.

By this development, the State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS) has outgrown the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) from N750 million to over N3 billion monthly, with a renewed commitment to achieve a target of N4 billion in no distant time.

The workaholic chairman of the Service, Salihu Enehe, disclosed this during the Stewardship and Accountability Forum put in place by the members of the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kogi State Council over the weekend.

Initially appointed as technical assistant to the former chairman of the service some nine years ago, Enehe noted that the state’s monthly revenue generation stood at N750 million in November 2021, when he was appointed chairman.

He observed that when he took over the mantle of leadership in 2021, the morale of the staff of the revenue spinning machine was low due to concomitant effects of apathy occasioned by inadequate welfare package for the workers.

As he put it, “when I became chairman in 2021, staff morale was at its lowest. I knew that I had to do something differently to change the narrative. That’s the only way I could win the confidence of the staff who were already frustrated and had boosted their morale.

“We constituted a committee on staff promotion. Now promotion has become an annual exercise in KGIRS. This has greatly motivated Staff members who were largely responsible for improving our revenue drive,” he said.

This was augmented by the policy of training and retraining staff to boost their morale and enhance efficiency and productivity.

“We have been able to raise our monthly revenue generation from 750 million naira to N3 billion, our projection, however, is to move it to 4 billion Naira monthly.

According to the chairman, the service was also able to harmonise the land use and ground rents into one thereby eliminating the multiplication of taxes.

On ill egal revenue collection on the roads, while the chairman acknowledged that it had not been able to attain the desired destination, he maintained that the service had made tremendous improvement.

“The service is working very hard to eliminate illegal revenue collection. Our major challenge has been the local government officials. They have consistently constituted themselves into a clog in the implementation of this law.

Speaking on the use of consultants for revenue collection, the chairman noted that as long as forestry, produce, and haulage remain collectable revenues, the service will continue to use consultants in these areas.

However, he said such revenues should not be collected on the road, but at the loading point.

He assured that the service would continue to discharge its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to the people, subject to the availability of funds.