The Nigerian Governors’ Forum yesterday hosted tax officers from the 36 states of the federation to introduce them to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) dashboard, an innovation of the economic department of the NGF.
The initiative, according to the Director General of the NGF, Asishana Okauru, was designed to help states shore up their revenue base.
Speaking to desk officers from the various states of the federation, Mr Okauru said the forum was put in place to train them on one of the NGF’s flagship projects, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) Dashboard Initiative.
“The IGR Dashboard is dedicated to strengthening ongoing reforms targeted at raising the internally generated revenue of States, by actively engaging with the 37 tax authorities in the country, including the FCT,” he said.
“In the past years, we have built a strong relationship with the Executive Chairmen of the State Inland Revenue Bodies/Agencies/ Services.
We strongly believe that for the IGR Dashboard Initiative to succeed, it is important we maintain another layer of relationship in the space you operate.
In my opinion, as Desk Officers, you are functionally the most important part of the implementation puzzle.
“You are a very crucial point of contact on all matters related to the IGR Dashboard.
This is an important call in the broader context of our engagement with your State governors in the drive for strong political commitment for IGR reforms.” He explained further that some states have since taken advantage of the initiative; but all states now have a fresh level-playing ground to take advantage of the opportunities the IGR Dashboard provides.
He said, “We expect some degree of networking among yourselves to facilitate sharing experiences.
You also have a unique opportunity to request for technical assistance from the NGF Secretariat and our development partners.” “Our support to states has been through the provision of evidence to influence policy formulation and implementation, the development of knowledge resources to strengthen reforms and the delivery of national platforms for peer learning.” To contribute to a more coherent reform environment and fast track full domestication of commendable practices across all states and the FCT, he said, the NGF secretariat also develops guides for implementing reforms based on extensive experience in peer reviewing the 36 states over the last 10 years