Task Team Leader of State and Local Governance Reform (SLOGOR), Mr Ikechukwu Nweje, has urged state governments to amend outdated financial laws in order to improve their Internal Generated Revenue (IGR) and financial governance.
Nweje made the call at a retreat organized for the six SLOGOR states participating in the Public Financial Management (PFM) Reforms yesterday in Enugu.
The six states participating in the SLOGOR project are; Anambra, Cross River, Jigawa, Kano, Osun and Yobe.
While noting that obsolete financial laws was hampering improved revenue collection, Nwejei said that there was a need for more awareness on recent financial governance laws to help states improve transparency and accountability in public financial management.
He stressed that the project has helped some states to improve their IGR by following modern financial laws and procedures.
“Through SLOGOR, some states had increased their number of people in their tax and IGR drag-nets to include not only civil servants but the wealthy, traders and other people that engage in one business activity or the other.
“The SLOGOR project had made states subscribe to modern and practical financial integrity packages like Treasury Single Account (TSA) and other form of financial streamlining to check financial mismanagement, leakages and fraud.
In an address, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget And National Planning, Mr Olajide Odewale, said the retreat will enable stakeholders critically assess the project and take stock of the implementation of its different components, particularly the PFM Reforms.
Odewale, who was represented by the Director of Finance and Account, Mr Adetokunbo Adebanjo, noted that the success of the implementation of this component would no doubt enhance the achievement of the project development objectives, which is to improve transparency, accountability and quality in public financial management in the participating states.
Earlier, the National Project Co-ordinator of SLOGOR, Mr S.O. Eloho, said that an effective PFM reforms at the state level would complement the efforts of the Federal Government, particularly in its fight against corruption and economic diversification.
