The Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS) has set a target projection of N60 billion in Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs) for 2024. This ambitious goal aims to surpass the preceding year’s achievement of M35 billion, as reported by LEADERSHIP gathered in Uyo, the state capital.
To address the revenue-generating deficiency, the tax agency concluded a one-day strategic action plan to meet the N60 billion IGR target for 2024. It resolved to launch an aggressive tax drive as a solution.
The recent peer review by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Akwa Ibom state generated about N35 billion IGR in 2022, ranking 10th on the States’ IGR table released by the agency in October 2023.
Some strategies discussed during the meeting, chaired by the Executive Chairman of the Board, Mr. Okon Okon, include conducting extensive tax sensitization campaigns, fully automating and digitising tax processes, strategic capacity building, expanding the tax-payers’ database, and utilising Akwa-GIS for land-related revenue.
The forum noted that AKIRS had intensified tax sensitization campaigns in Q4 of 2023 through roadshows, radio programs, media briefings, and inaugurating a tax club at the University of Uyo, among other strategic enlightenment programs. It resolved to bolster these campaigns to meet the 2024 target.
The conferees acknowledged the steady rise in the state’s IGRs in recent years, highlighting Akwa Ibom’s IGRs’ upward trajectory since the inception of the present Board led by Mr. Okon Okon. They expressed optimism about meeting the N60 billion projection for the upcoming year, given the consistent growth from an annual figure of about N16 billion in 2017 to about N35 billion in the last reported year.
