Indications that most states in the country are yet to adopt policies required to optimize their revenue generation capacities have emerged with The Economic Confidential Annual States Viability Index (ASVI) 2017 indicating that 17 states recorded low IGR figures.
The just published ASVI reflected that 17 states recorded very low Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) value for the year under review, with their IGR accruals far below 10 per cent of the total allocations to them from the Federation Account Allocations.
The index indicated that but for the monthly disbursements from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to them, most states would not have been able to sustain their governance activities.
A critical analysis of the magazine’s findings showed that apart from Lagos State whose IGR accruals totaled about N333 billion, representing over 30 per cent of the aggregate IGR value for the 36 states, other states that generated over 30 percent of what they collected from the Federation Account include, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Kwara, Enugu and Kano States.
The seven states generated N607 billion of the total N931billion in 2017 by the 36 states during the year under review. This implies that the other 29 states raked in N327 billion as IGR in the year.
According to the IGR figures, while Lagos’ IGR amounted to 165 per cent of its N201 billion allocation from the Federation Account, Ogun States’ IGR figures stood at N74.83 billion compared to its Federation Account allocation of N69 billion, representing 107 per cent of the federal allocation. The two states were just the only states whose IGR was higher than their distributions from the Federation account.
The report reflected that states whose IGR was less than 10 percent of their receipts from the Federation Account rose to 17 as against the 14 of them in the preceding year..
A state-by-state analysis of the states’ IGR collections proved that Bauchi generated N4.3 billion as IGR compared to a total of N85 billion it got from the federal allocation during the year; Yobe raked in N3.59 billion as IGR compared to the N67 billion it got from the federal allocation for the year while Borno State generated N4.9 billion compared to the N92 billion it received from the Federation Account during the year under review.
Also, Kebbi’s IGR stood at N4.39 billion compared to the N76 billion it received from the Federation Account; Katsina collected N6 billion as IGR compared to the N103 billion it got from the Federation Account during the year.
Others’ revenue generation profiles are, Niger, IGR N6.5 billion and Federation Account allocation N87 billion; Jigawa N6.6 billion as IGR compared to N85 billion received from Federation Account; Imo raked in N6.8 billion as IGR and got N85 billion as federally allocated revenue; Akwa Ibom generated N15 billion as IGR and collected N197 billion from Federation Account; Ekiti collected N4.9 billion as IGR and got N59 billion from the federally distributed revenue.
In addition, Osun raked in N6.4 billion as IGR and received N76 billion from the Federation Account; Adamawa generated N6.2 billion internally but got N72.9 billion from Federation Account;, Taraba raked in N5.7 billion as IGR compared to the N66 billion it got from the Federation Account while Ebonyi raised N5.1 billion as IGR and collected N57.8 billion from Federation Account during the year under review.
Others with impressive IGR include, Rivers State with N89 billion IGR compared to N178 billion received from the Federation Account; Edo with IGR of N25 billion compared to N75 billion.
The report showed further that Kwara State generated N19 billion as IGR compared to its N61 billion collection from the Federation Account however with a low receipt from the Federation Account; Enugu raked in N22 billion as IGR while it got N69 billion from the Federation Account. Kano generated N42 billion as IGR while it got N143 billion from federally distributed revenue and Delta State recorded N51 billion IGR and got N175 billion from Federation Account.
The Economic Confidential ASVI also showed that whereas 10 states in the Southern part of the country generated 20 per cent above what they each got from the Federation Account only three states in the North hit the target. The Southern states are, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Enugu, Delta, Cross River, Anambra, Oyo and Abia States while the Northern states are Kwara, Kano, and Kaduna states.
Also, the states with the lowest IGR of less than 10 per cent in the Southern part are, Akwa-Ibom Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Osun, and Imo states while those in the North include, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, Taraba, Jigawa, Zamfara and Yobe and states
Analysts believe that some of the states, particularly in the troubled regions, could have generated more revenues during the year under review but for the disturbances within their domains while others are believed to be lethargic in their revenue generation drives.
