The Ekiti State Governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose, has tasked the State Board of Internal Revenue and consultants working for the government on revenue generation to be more assiduous and improve on the Internally Generated Revenue of the state to enable his government have more fund at its disposal for developmental projects.
The governor gave the charge at a meeting held with the management of the state BIR, revenue generation consultants and other relevant stakeholders in his office in Ado at the weekend.
According to a press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to Fayose, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose reiterated that his government was in a hurry to develop Ekiti State and make the people begin to enjoy the good things his administration promised.
He said he needed more funds to execute his government’s blueprint for Ekiti State development.
He told the meeting that he had no vested interest in anybody or any consultancy firm for the job of improving the state IGR and will not relieve any consultant of his job in a hurry as long as he works in line with the government’s instruction and developmental time table.
He, however, insisted that 50 per cent of such consultants and people that work with them should be Ekiti State indigenes.
“My concern here is getting the job done and getting the expected result rather than who does the job or where he comes from, but my people too should be given the opportunity to contribute to the development of their state and enjoy from it as well,” Fayose said.
Noting that there are experts and professionals in all these areas in Ekiti State, Fayose explained that indigenous consultants and contractors, if given such opportunity, are likely to be more committed as they will see it as an opportunity to contribute their quota to the development of their state, while drawing their workers from Ekiti State will reduce unemployment among the people.
Corroborating the governor’s view on the issue, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Finance, Toyin Ojo, said the stakeholders meeting became very necessary to enable the government get the true picture of the state’s IGR with a view to finding ways of improving on it, more so that the former government has plunged the state into a huge debt.
Ojo said the meeting was very successive as both the government side and the consultants have agreed to work harmoniously and ensure that the state IGR improves as requested by the governor and that the modalities for this will be worked out with all the stakeholders.
The governor also announced the appointment of Ropo Ogunjobi as his Special Assistant on Internally Generated Revenue at the meeting and the appointment takes immediate effect.