By Francis Ogwo
Gombe State Government has disclosed that it generated its highest-ever Internally Generated Revenue of N8.4billion in 2020.
This was made public by Chairman of Gombe Revenue Service, Malam Abubakar Tata, in a statement on Saturday in Gombe.
According to Tata, the amount is the highest ever IGR generated by the state since it was created in 1996, praising the state’s ability to raise such revenue despite the pandemic.
He added that Gombe state created more directorates in its revenue board, to boost efficient service delivery for revenue generation, citing that members of the service were not trained in years and that training programmes were organised to improve service delivery.
Tata also added that the state implemented cross platforms to improve communication between staff, and collaboration between the revenue-generating MDAs in the state.
Gombe State IGR Chairman said the state organized meetings with 78 MDAs that generate revenue for the state to discuss and implement ways to generate revenue for the state.
“When I assumed duty, I came with the mindset that we were going to change the story by understanding and diagnosing the problem and in doing so, we could proffer a solution.
“Also, end of year bonus for staff and other departmental awards for best performing staff were introduced to motivate the staff, which in turn will discourage them from corrupt practices.”
Recall that in October 2020, states in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) generated a sum of N612.87 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) between January and June 2020.
