Ini Billie, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Government said it is targeting N60 billion Internally Generated Revenue in 2024.
Executive Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS), Mr Okon Okon stated this on Thursday after a one-day strategy session to fashion plans to meet the IGR budget in 2024.
In 2022, Akwa Ibom state collected about N35 billion IGR which ranked it 10th on the States’ IGR ranking table released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in October 2023.
The state’s IGR has been on an upward trajectory since the inception of the present board from about N16 billion in 2017, to N33 billion in 2019 and about N35 billion in 2023.
Okon said the estimated 2024 IGR is to ensure that the government has sufficient funds to implement the ARISE Agenda.
The Chairman mentioned plans for meeting the 2024 target to include, massive tax sensitisation campaigns, full automation and digitisation of tax processes, strategic capacity building, expansion of taxpayer’s database and leveraging Akwa-GIS for land-related revenue.
He stated that AKIRS intensified its tax sensitisation campaigns in Q4 of 2023 through roadshows, radio programs, media briefings, and the inauguration of a tax club at the University of Uyo, among other strategic enlightenment programmes.