PDP GOVERNORS FORUM IGR CONVERGE: ‘’THE IMPERATIVES OF DEVELOPING INTERNALLY GENERATED REVENUE OPTIONS FOR STATE GOVERNMENTS’’ BY NELSON NSEABASI

Economic planning and development has been the bedrock of thriving economies all over the world. The issue of income generation for a micro and macro level is vital to the well being of a particular economy, as it is with it that development is planned.

In recent time, the nation Nigeria has witnessed a period of drastic decline in the economy, leaving the price of stocks very low in the trade market while unemployment rose to an alarming rate. Firms were forced to relocate resources, scale back production and lay off employees. To salvage the situation, it is recommended that government adopt strategic macroeconomics policies.

Intermittently and constantly, there are series of discussions on how to continually improve the economy, as against inflation and deflation. It behooves of the leadership and persons responsible in various offices at federal and state levels, to see to it that they generate a tangible percentage of the resources required to meet their needs.

Internally Generated Revenue to the rescue. Internally generated revenue (IGR) are those revenues that are derived within the state from various sources such as taxes (pay as you earn, direct assessment, capital gain taxes, etc), and motor vehicle license, among others. While the statutory allocation from Federation Account, Value Added Tax constitute the external source.

Most states of the federation get the bulk of their revenue in form of statutory allocation from the federation account to finance their expenditure plan. State governments as the second tier of government in Nigeria derive its revenue from various sources. However, it is worthy of note that sources of revenue are by no means uniform among the states. States derive their revenue depending on the resources available to them; this is generated to finance either recurrent or capital expenditures.

IGR serves as an alternative source of income for an arm of government, generating from its domain the resources to be used in augmenting cost of the provision of basic social amenities and infrastructure.

The People's Democratic Party (PDP) as Africa’s biggest party is currently governing 16 out of the 36 states in Nigeria, ( Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Oyo, Imo, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa, Zamfara, Taraba) with some of these states being the highest allocation receiving states. Of all the states controlled by the PDP, four (4) of them are oil-rich states with high allocation and generated revenue.

It will interest you to know that asides Lagos, being the African commercial nerve center, PDP governed states also top the chart of states with high IGR in the country. So therefore, it is pertinent to have the PDP IGR Summit, to discuss ways to optimize the use of revenue, also to brainstorm on ways to increase the revenue of the other PDP states through valuable discourse and partnerships.

The PDP Governors Forum, in their thoughtfulness, will be hosting the 2019 Edition of the IGR summit in Abuja. The expected participants are - State Commissioners of Finance, Trade/Investments, Budget/Economic Planning, Tourism and Local Governments/Chieftaincy Affairs; National/State Assembly Committee Chairmen on Local Governments whose input will generally provide statutory and parliamentary backing for the major determinants and considerations on IGR Resources; SSAs on Trade/Investments, Economy, Finance and Revenue Generation; LGA Chairmen/ Secretaries, as well as Heads of State Boards of Internally-Generated Revenue and Senior Executives engaged in the Development and Management of Rural Economy amongst others.

The high-profile summit has the Governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson as the Chief Host; the National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus is the Special Guest of Honour with the former Governor of Anambra State and Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, Mr. Peter Obi, as Chairman of the summit, to deliver the keynote address on the theme titled, The Imperatives of Developing Internally-Generated Revenue Options for State Governments in a Recessed Economy.

When these key players converge at the BON Hotel Stratton, (formerly Protea Hotel) Asokoro, Abuja from November 27 to 28 ,discussions will feature Key Resource persons and Finance Experts with tested knowledge and  transfer experience drawn from the IGR/Finance Sector. They will deliver thought-provoking papers and case studies to address as well as  proffer enduring and sustainable solutions; aside crafting fresh ideas for the development, generation and effective  application of digital formats to improve internally-generated revenue(IGR) strategies and platforms in the states and local government areas(LGAs) in a Recessed Economy.

As states continue to incorporate a virtual workforce, it is important that leadership encourages them to interact live, on a one-on-one setting with participants from other states in the political community. It is one of the best ways for states to engage with thought leaders and innovators to discuss topics on a deeper and more personal level, the outcome and potential for those involved become invaluable to improve their various economies.

All attendees will learn, discuss thoughts, network, share ideas, create new ideas, and to ignite action. States with lower allocation can learn first and from others how best to attack IGR in their respective states, also allow states to share their progress, hurdles theyve come across, and techniques in solving them.

In summary, the imperatives of the PDP Governor's Forum IGR summit cannot be overemphasized, as it will spark new Ideas for Governors on how to start rethinking the status quo, and for the attendees, they will confidently return to their base equipped to tackle their challenges in creative and innovative ways, inspired and encouraged to think outside the box, which leads to successful outcomes for the state and in the long run, the country.

Nelson NseAbasi writes from Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.