The State of Osun House of Assembly has thrown its weight behind board of Osun Internally Revenue Service (OIRS) to generate more revenue to the state.
The Chairman House Committee on Finance and Appropriation Hon. Kamil Oyedele made this assurance last week Thursday during an interactive meeting with concerned stakeholders on Internally Generate Revenue at the State House of Assembly complex Osogbo.
Oyedele said concerned participants were convened in other to know how prepare the state ahead of the 2018 budget presentation. According to him, “We need to focus on increasing the Internally Generated Revenue of the state of Osun as a means of helping the state to be financially autonomous without having to rely on the meagre Federal Allocation”.
“A lot of laws on levies and taxes have been going through review and our expectation is to know what we have achieved in terms of revenue generation for the state” he added.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government owes the state almost N5billion on levies and taxes alone. Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Tax and Revenue Matters, Barrister Gbenga Akano who led the team to the Assembly disclosed that revenue generation is the business of everybody in the state.
He said the people need to cooperate with the government to achieve meaningful success on IGR.
He said, “We meet together to improve state revenue and we shall by grace of God sustain Osun economy for better”.
However, in his contribution the Acting Chairman of OIRS, Mr. Bicci Alli said the state needs to build a sustainable institution that would outlive individuals, stressing that the board cannot work successfully enough without the support of the House of Assembly, especially in the creation of necessary legislative framework to help in delivering the common goals.
According to him, “We need to review all our laws to put things in order and to put enforcement within the control of the state”. “Almost fourteen (14) amended laws are already in place on levies and taxes for commercial activities in the state”, he added.
In their separate remarks, members of the committee urged the board to introduce new enforcement strategy to help recover some debt.
