Nasarawa Generates N16.8bn Revenue In 2021
The Nasarawa State Government has said it recovered N16.8 billion as Internally Generated Revenue for the year 2021 after banning the use of manual receipts and introducing a central billing system for the collection of taxes in the state.
The Executive Chairman of the State Internal Revenue Service, Ahmed Muhammad, made the disclosure in an in Lafia on Tuesday.
He explained that it became necessary to introduce the central billing system because the usage of manual receipts for the collection of taxes became an avenue for some corrupt individuals to enrich themselves with the state funds.
Muhammad noted that before his appointment into office four years ago, the highest revenue generated by the state on a yearly basis was N6 billion but with the initiatives recently put in place, the state was able to generate the sum of N16.8 billion naira for the year 2021.
He said, “The total revenue we generated last year is N16.8 billion. We were able to achieve this feat because the state government has banned the use of manual receipts. We now have a platform that we use which is called the central billing system.
“If you make any payment on the central billing system, you can print an online receipt. The use of manual receipts was an avenue by some corrupt individuals to deprive government of its funds. Anybody could just go and print a receipt anywhere but with the new system, you will not get receipts unless you make payment through the platform.”
He further said that the state government was partnering with the Nigeria Police Force and the Department of State Services to track down criminal-minded individuals who were still using the manual receipt to collect taxes from residents of the state despite its ban.
