Guardian Plateau Eyes Alternative Revenue Source Saturday, 14 June 2014 20:50 Written by sa Abdulsalami Ahovi, Jos Category: National PLATEAU State Governor, Jonah David Jang, has observed that as oil revenues are increasingly declining, the state needs to find an alternative means of revenue generation so that it is not caught unawares. The governor said that in the course of the first and second tenures of the administration, seeking out alternative ways of generating internal revenue has been one of the administration’s cardinal goals. He spoke yesterday at the opening of the Stakeholders Round Table Engagement on Tax with Professional Groups in Plateau State held at the Hill Station Hotel Conference Centre, Jos. Jang, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Shedrach Best, said: “This is because we realized that it has become the norm for governments to rely solely on the monthly allocations from the Federal Account to the total neglect of other sources readily available at their doorsteps. Secondly, as things stand today, it is becoming very clear that these monthly accruals are declining with each passing month with states like Plateau being at the receiving end. “No doubt, our collective desire is for a developed environment of opportunities where your talents and potentials would be fully developed. But we must not forget that there is a link between taxes and actual development on ground. Sadly, we in Nigeria are yet to grasp this hard reality of developmental governance. In fact, we do not see the relationship between the successes of a government and the way it creatively applies itself to the task of generating internal revenue because we have been made lazy by readily available oil money.” Executive Chairman of the Plateau State Internal Revenue Service who organized the Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement, Mr. Samuel Pam, said that the aim of the roundtable discussion was to find a way of increasing revenue generation for the state. Pam said that to keep the awareness going, there is going to be a follow-up to the discussion, adding that as soon as the revenue board is able to lay down the template, “it would be much easier for those who do not have organized income or maintaining their statements of income. What we are doing is to put a flat rate for each professional, and they would have what they are supposed to pay: I am sure within the next two months, they are going to see that policy rolled out.”
Posted on: Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:42:46 +0000