Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, declared at the weekend that his government has, in its first two years, increased the state’s Internally Generated Revenue by close to N15 Billion without increasing taxes.
The governor, stated on Saturday evening at the 41st Omo Aj’orosun Day Celebration, in Ibadan, and also took time out to explain the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA) of his administration.
He stated that the Approach has helped the state in bridging its infrastructure deficit, while also helping to expand the economy and increase the state’s IGR.
The governor said: “Within the first two years, we increased the IGR by close to N15billion. We did it without raising taxes. We did it just by appealing and bringing more people into the tax net. “The motorcycle operators were paying 200 Naira before we got into government and we reduced it to N100.”
It would be recalled that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had in its 2020 report indicated that the state’s IGR witnessed a 42 per cent growth, a growth which the governor explained, was achieved by bringing in more people into the tax net rather than raising taxes.
The governor warned against politicising the security challenges in the state, stating that instead of criticising without suggesting solutions as some are wont to do, everyone has to contribute to making the state safer.
“On the issue of insecurity they are politicising, there is available data. There is common sense too on some of these things. But all of us have to contribute in one way or the other. I want to beg you: Support us on the security architecture we have put out there.
“The arm-chair critics would just keep ranting and if you ask them to proffer a solution, they lack it. All of us must contribute, especially in the aspect of voluntary policing. The vigilantes, the Mogajis, our traditional institutions should come with us. I told someone that I cannot imagine Oyo State without Amotekun and it did not exist before we got into government.
“Before I got into government, security agencies could not effectively communicate security information between Ibadan and Ogbomoso. But we have strengthened the architecture we met when we came in. We have spent more than a quarter of N1b to put in place security communication equipment throughout Oyo State.
“Now, we are asking the banks that we want to integrate the CCTVs they have installed into our own security control centre. You installed this government and we are accountable to you. So, if you see something, say something to us,”
He explained the concept of the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA) which is different from the popular concept of Build, Operate and Transfer.
He stated that there are two elements in APFA of which one is a link between the existing infrastructural deficit and the internally generated revenue, and pointed out that when one tackles or reduces the infrastructure deficit, the IGR is invariably being.
“What are the challenges usually associated with government projects that lead to abandoned projects? The past governments failed to see the end from the beginning of the projects. They started by paying 30 per cent to the contractor and those who wanted to get their 5 or 10 per cent got theirs.
“When the contractor got the work done to a certain point, there would not be money to continue to fund the project. As a result, the contractor would resort to reducing the quality of the project and destroying things more.
“So, we adopted APFA because it is solving many problems for us. “One, most of the contractors, by the time they complete any of our projects, the highest amount we must have paid them is 35-45 per cent.
“So, a contractor that is still having 55 per cent of his money with the government does a quality job so as to get his balance’ adding that the model has helped the state to bridge the infrastructure gap and increasing its IGR.
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