Edo IGR drops to N1.6b in 2013 – Commissioner

The Commissioner for Finance in Edo State, John Inegbedion, said on Tuesday that the internally-generated revenue of the state had dropped from N1.8 billion to N1.6 billion.
Inegbedion made this known when he briefed the House of Assembly on the 2013 budget performance and the activities of his ministry in Benin.
He said the revenue, which stood at N1.8 billion in 2012, dropped to N1.6 billion in 2013, adding that the reduction was due to the harmonisation and review of personal income tax.
The commissioner said the land use charge law and the property tax currently being implemented in the state would help cover up the shortfall in the revenue.
Hon. Kingsley Ehigiamusor, representing Igueben, and Momoh Abdulrazak, Estako West, expressed dissatisfaction over the commissioner’s briefing.
They said the brief did not state the amount received from the Federation Account, the position of the IGR account and the amount received as Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme.
According to them, for any meaningful evaluation of the budget performance of the ministry, there is the need to have details of all income and expenditure of the state through the ministry.
The Speaker, Uyigue Igbe, therefore, directed the commissioner to furnish the House with all relevant details within one week.
The commissioner for Budget and planning, Lawrence Aghedo, also briefed the house, saying that a new programme of budget preparation was underway in the ministry.