BEING a communique issued at the end of a one-day seminar on enhancing internally generated revenue in Edo State: Issues, pospects and challenges.
Against the backdrop of dwindling allocations from the Federation Account and other external sources of revenue to it, Edo State Government organized and ran a one-day workshop for its Permanent Secretaries, Directors and Deputy Directors with the main theme “Enhancing Internally Generated Revenue in Edo State: Issues, Prospects and Challenges” on Monday 13 July, 2015. There were three sub themes for the workshop as follows:
(i) Legal and Administrative Issues involved in Enhancing Internally Generated Revenue in Edo State;
(ii) Prospects and Challenges in Enhancing Internally Generated Revenue in Edo State;
(iii) The Role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the administration of Internally Generated Revenue in Edo State.
The Workshop was personally declared open by the Governor of Edo State, with the Deputy Governor present along with majority of Edo State Executive Council members. Each session was made up of Chairman’s remarks, paper presentation and interactive sub-session. The papers were well presented and extensively deliberated upon by the participants.
2. At the end of the Seminar, the following resolutions were made.
(I) It was generally agreed that there is an urgent need in Edo State to mobilize all efforts to increase internally generated revenue in the State owing to the dwindling receipts from the Federation Account and other external sources of revenue to it;
(ii) That Permanent Secretaries in Edo State Civil/Public Service as the Accounting Officers c their Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government should take necessary steps to\ensure that all the revenue accruable to their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies are duly identified, collected and remitted intact to Edo State Government Treasury. That the Permanent Secretaries should take further necessary steps to ensure that all revenue leakages are blocked;
(iii) That in furtherance to item 2(ii) above, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government under the supervision of the respective Permanent Secretaries should take steps to identify the necessary legal and regulatory backings for the various revenue heads and subheads in their Ministries, Departments and Agencies and streamline them for efficient and effective revenue generation;
(iv) That Permanent Secretaries and Directors in the various Ministries Departments and Agencies of Government should realize that as the Accounting Officers and officers controlling revenue vote heads and subheads of their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government, they will be personally and vicariously held liable for any corrupt practices particularly as it concerns internally generated revenue mobilization, collection, control and remittances in their various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government;
(v) That Permanent Secretaries along with their Directors should harness the human and other resources in their Ministries, Departments and Agencies and provide result oriented leadership and human capacity building towards enhancing internally generated revenue in their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies;
(vi) That Government should consider arid approve the various revenue generation processes recommended by revenue consultants iii various Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government of Edo State;
(vii) That Permanent Secretaries along with their Directors should ensure that the various Information and Communication Technology processes, devices, personnel, equipment and efforts currently being put in place by the present Government under the able leadership of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole are properly harnessed and utilized for efficient and effective revenue mobilization, collection, control and remittances in Edo State;
(viii) That Government should consider the need to introduce some personnel motivation towards enhancing internally generated revenue in Edo State by way of extending cost of collection to other Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government that generate internal revenue as it is currently being practiced in Edo State Internal Revenue Service.
3. Participants commended the Executive Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Aliyu Eric Oshiomhole mni, CON, for his vigorous efforts and passion towards enhancing internally generated revenue in Edo State and for this particular seminal, novel and innovative idea of ensuring that a workshop of this nature is organized arid run; all geared towards ensuring the delivery of good governance and all encompassing infrastructural development in Edo State. It is the wish of the participants that the template of this workshop be extended to other categories of officers, sectors and segments of Edo State Public Service in order to ensure that the spirit which has been imbibed by the participants in this workshop is inculcated in other participants; all geared towards maximizing internally generated revenue mobilization identification, collection and remittances in Edo State.
