The Kano State government has said barring internal leakages, the state could generate over N100 billion in Internal Revenue, IGR, in 2025.
In a presentation at the Kano Internal Revenue Service Annual Performance Review for 2024 and Strategic Planning for 2025, on Wednesday, the State Chairman of the Revenue Board, Abubakar Zaid, noted that the service had introduced a central revenue account to ensure transparency and accountability as well as to block all leakages.
Some of the identified leakages, according to Dr Abubakar Zaid, include numerous accounts used by his office for transactions but found to be avenues for siphons.
Zaid noted that although the state government has placed a target of only N700 billion on the revenue board for the year, the agency could still generate over N100 billion if it blocks the identified leakages.
He said the discovery has prompted a review of all the revenue generation laws to enhance the revenue base of the state and also block the leakages.
Zaid informed that already Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has given approval for the review of such laws before the end of the first quarter of this year.
“We have to rewrite the laws because approval has been given by His Excellency Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf which we hope to do before the end of the first quarter of this year,” he said.
”Reviewing the tax laws is necessary to enhance overall revenue generation in the state as the existing tax laws are obsolete and ineffective.
According to him, the KIRS has introduced taxpayer engagement as part of measures to ensure that all taxpayers are fully sensitized on the activities on the activities of the service.
“The taxpayer engagement is aimed at coming closer to taxpayers to reduce the work burden on our staff as we have to closely engage them,’ he said.
