Ugwuanyi Tasks MDAs On Revenue Generation

Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in Enugu State have been enjoined to  raise their performance bar and re-strategise on meeting their revenue targets as contained in the approved 2022 budget of the state.
The State Governor, Hon. IfeanyiUgwuanyi who made the call in his speech while declaring open a one day Summit on “Achieving Enugu State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target for 2022 Fiscal year,” held at the Base Event Centre, Enugu, yesterday  also canvassed the establishment of an annual revenue index of every MDA in the state.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Simon UchennaOrtuanya, Gov. Ugwuanyi stressed the importance of the Summit to identify the challenges faced by poorly performing MDAs and deliberate on ways to improve on their activities with a view to meeting the 2022 revenue target for funding of the budget.
While stressing the state government’s determination towards growing its IGR to create a socio-economic system not so dependent on federal allocation, Gov. Ugwuanyi disclosed that his administration has grown the state’s IGR by 50 percent without any increased tax burden on the people or businesses operating in the state.
His words: “Furthermore, a 2019 Report showed Enugu State as 3rd in the Federation after Lagos and River states in terms of fiscal sustainability. Also, a report by Ernst and Young, a globally acclaimed auditing firm, rated Enugu State first in the Federation on grounds of fiscal discipline, prudence and accountability”, he added.
The governor therefore commended the Chairman of Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS), Prince EmekaOdo, and his team for the timely Summit, expressing confidence that, at the end of the strategic event, the challenges faced by major revenue generating MDAs will be analyzed and solutions proffered to enhance revenue generation for delivery of more democratic dividends to the people of the state.
In his welcome address, the Chairman of ESIRS, Prince Odo explained that the Summit was organized by the agency in collaboration with Enugu State Economic Planning Commission to review the performance of the MDAs in the past three years, inform each revenue generating MDA of its revenue target for 2022, and formulate and agree on strategies for achieving the targets as well as harmonize their revenue heads.
Prince Odo who applauded Gov. Ugwuanyi for the impressive performance of ESIRS last year, revealed that the agency collected a total IGR of N26,700,000.00 as against a target of N29,000,000.00 as contribution of IGR to the funding of the 2021 budget, representing a 92 percent budget performance and a 13 percent improvement over that of the 2020 fiscal year.
According to the Chairman, “This performance is commendable and all of us in this room have every reason to be proud of this achievement.

By: Canice Amadi, Enugu