The Ogun Assembly has considered the 2021 budget proposal of the State Internal Revenue Service (OGRIS) with a warning to it to shelve its proposed plans of ceding the sales of transport unions’ ticket to the Park and Garages Development Agency as it was against the extant legislations establishing the State Revenue Board.
The Chairman, State House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Kunle Sobunkanla, issued the warning, while playing host to the Chairman, OGIRS, Mr. Anthony Olaleye at the ongoing 2021 budget defence session for MDAs at the Assembly Complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Sobukola explained that the revenue agency should always liaise with the State Ministry of Finance in its quest to expand its mode of revenue generation and manpower services, adding that the laws that established both agencies could not allow for ceding of revenue collection role of OGIRS to Park and Garrage Development Agency.
Earlier, Olaleye intimated the lawmakers of the plans of the IRS to further drive and improve on its revenue base, including automation strategies and electronic data management system to ease tax administration, thereby raising the bar of revenue generation in the State.
The Chairman noted that the agency would leverage on the State’s population advantage through improved information technology architecture to further attract more prospective tax payers to the revenue base of the State, adding that it would further evolve measures to block revenue leakages and tax evasion.
Soliciting the support of the lawmakers to achieve the objective of improving the tax revenue by 144.40% in 2021 using the 2020 as base year, the Chairman said the agency proposed a total budget size of N2.63bn, out of which N2.03bn was to cater for recurrent expenditures and the remaining N600.1m for capital projects with revenue target of N75bn for the next fiscal year.
On his part, the State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Olaolu Olabimtan presented the 2021 budget proposal of his ministry with an assurance that the Ministry will consistently provide development support for orderly actualization of the business of government, using fiscal planning and management reforms, technology, education, participation and enforcement as change agents in the overall interest of the people.
To achieve the foregoing, Olabimtan presented a total budget size of N1.6bn, comprising of N1.1bn for various capital projects, while recurrent expenditure would gulp N546.7m.
The Lawmakers also considered the 2021 budget proposal of the State Ministry of Finance which put forward a total budget estimate of N19.3bn, out of which N13.9bn would go for recurrent, N5.4bn would go for capital expenses, while over N1bn was revenue target for the fiscal year.
Also, the State Accountant General, Mr. Michael Idowu, presented a total budget estimate of N28.3bn, out of which N18.8bn was earmarked for recurrent, while capital costs stood at N9.5bn, with an assurance of prudent, sustained and prompt servicing of financial obligations
