By Oyibo Salihu
Lokoja
Executive Chairman, Kogi state Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), Alhaji Yakubu Oseni, has disclosed that the organisation is making tremendous progress in terms of revenue generation for the state.
Oseni, who disclosed this during an interactive session with members of the Correspondents chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Monday, stated the state internal revenue service was modelled in line with states like Lagos, Kwara, Ogun and others.
He explained that KGIRS is the only body saddled with the sole responsibility of collecting revenue for the state, explaining that “since December 2016, it has been generating between N300 million to over N1 billion on the average after blocking all the leakages in tax collections.”
Oseni warned that no staff of KGIRS is allowed to collect cash, adding that individuals and corporate organisations, have been cooperating with new tax policies in the state, noting that the method was paying off.
He added the KGIRS is independent of State Government like what operate in other states, saying the staff are well remunerated, which accounts for why the staff do not go on strike.
“Kogi was rated 33 among the 36 states of the federation by the Joint Tax Committee, but now before you mention first, second and third, Kogi is there. After the establishment of KGIRS, we put up the edifice and swung into action,” he stated.
On harmonisation of multiple taxes, Oseni stated that the state government harmonised its taxes, stressing that the governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has signed the harmonisation law, assuring that with the harmonisation, the service would achieve a lot for the state in terms of revenue generation.
