Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that his government has, in its first two years, increased the state’s Internally Generated Revenue by close to N15 Billion without increasing taxes.
Makinde, who stated this on Saturday evening at the 41st Omo Aj’orosun Day Celebration, in Ibadan, also took time out to educate his main challenger in the 2019 election, Bayo Adelabu, and opposition elements on the essence of 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.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, the governor said, “Within the first two years, we increased the IGR by close to N15b. 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”.
The statement 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.
He 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 make the state safer.
His words, “On the issue of insecurity they are politicizing, 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 to 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 added.
