The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Lagos State, for the first quarter of the year 2008 (January to March), has been put at a whooping sum of N31.5 billion with a monthly average revenue of N10.5 billion accruing to the state treasury for the period.

This disclosure was made the Lagos State Internal revenue generation Executive Chairman, Mr. Tunde Fowler at the one-day meeting organised by the Lagos State government with professional association in Lagos at the weekend.

According to Fowler, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), being the major funding arm of the government has taken on the challenge of increasing the IGR of the state through the adoption and implementation of various strategies, which have impacted positively on revenue generation and collection, with the IGR moving from N30.1 billion in 2003 to N94.6 billion in 2007, which happens to be a percentage increase of about 315 per cent.

Furthermore, he gave a background to the state's IGR from a period of 2003 to the first quarter of 2008. He said the sum of N34.5 billion was sourced as IGR in 2004, with a monthly average of N2.8 billion and represents an increase of 114.75 per cent from the N30.1 billion figure recorded in 2008.
For the year 2005, the sum of N48.1billion was raked in with monthly average sum of N4 billion representing an increase of 139.4 per cent from that of 2004.

Fowler added that for year 2006, the sum of N66.8 billion was generated by the state with a monthly average of N5.6 billion and a percentage increase of 138.9 per cent from the previous year.
There was a phenomenal increase maintained by the state in year 2007, where the yearly IGR rose to N94.9 billion, showing a monthly average income of N7.9 billion and a percentage increase of 141.8 from that of 2006 figure.

Meanwhile, the governor of Lagos State, who was the chief host at the meeting used the occasion to hammer on the need why Lagosians must pay their taxes.
Governor Fashola said for there to be an efficient and effective mechanism that would ensure that people were really getting the dividends of democracy as it should be, there is need to have and put in place a system to generate the revenue.

Fashola said the state would do everything possible to enforce all laws that would ensure that the people comply with the directive, both those already living in the state and those coming in.

" Now there are two sides to the process of building an efficient tax system. Government has a role to play, no doubt; but the citizens have an even greater one," stated the state governor.

Source: Guardian