Lagos Targets N50bn Monthly Revenue By 2018

Lagos State government on Sunday announced readiness to massively reduce dependence on Federal allocations and increase Internally- Generated Revenue, IGR, to N30billion monthly in 2017 and N50 billion monthly in 2018.

The State also announced plans to increase the yearly budget to N1 trillion by 2018. Rising from a four-day retreat for members of the State Executive Council, body of Permanent Secretaries and heads of government agencies and parastatals at VIP Chalets in Badagry, the State government said it resolved to scale up and run efficient revenue collection machinery through the convergence of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs’) operations and utilisation of cutting edge technologies.

The retreat had the theme, ‘Reflect, Reappraise, Restrategise: Raising the Bar of Governance.’ In a communiqué issued at the end of the retreat and jointly read to journalists by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde; Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr Akinyemi Ashade, and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Mr. Fola Adeyemi, the government said participants intensively deliberated on the six pillars of Lagos State Development Plan (LSDP) which are infrastructural development, sustainable environment, finance, economic development, social development and security and governance. On the budget plan, Ashade said although the target was ambitious, appropriate measures were being adopted to achieve it.

While reading the communiqué, Ayorinde said participants reaffirmed the vision of the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration to make life better and more meaningful for the people, as well as recognised the role of government as the enabler and therefore resolved to create the enabling environment for everybody and businesses to promote and advance the wellbeing of Lagosians.

He said aside that, participants agreed to achieve 100 percent budget performance with a 58 percent to 42 percent ratio for capital and recurrent expenditure, it was also resolved that efforts should be redoubled at reducing cost and block leakages, while MDAs not yet integrated into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) be brought in before the end of third quarter of 2016.

On tourism, Ayorinde said participants acknowledged its imperative and the need to invest more in the sector with particular emphasis on improving the technological capacity of the Lottery Board to create jobs and increase revenue generation.