All local councils in Kogi State and key officials of its Ministry of Local Government are being sensitised on the harmonisation of rates collectable by councils in the state.
Speaking in Abuja at the sensitisation workshop organised by the Growth and Employment in States (GEMS3) of the United Kingdom Department for International evelopment, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abubakar Ainoko, said the law would help the state to meet its financial obligations, which are being impeded by the dwindling federal allocation.
According to Ainoko, the drive will also enable the state to remain financially independence, as “this law will assist our councils to shore up their IGR and reposition themselves for greater achievements.”
To that end, he tasked the participants to take serious “the implementation of this law and strategies that will be discussed at this workshop to ensure maximum impact on our business environment and our internally generated revenue.”
Chairman of the state’s Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Gabriel Daudu, had said the harmonised bill would create conducive environment for tax payment and collection. Also, the Senior Tax Adviser, GEMS3, Hafeez Onisarotu, said the training was to give operatives a proper understanding of the laws for effective implementation.
Meanwhile, the state government has appealed to owners of the over 360,000 uncollected Permanent Voter cards (PVCs) to pick them up from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) centres across the state without further delay.
The Commissioner for Information, Zainab Suleiman Okino, made the appeal in Lokoja during a courtesy call on the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hussaini Halilu Pai.
Zainab disclosed that while 1,317,672 PVCs were received by INEC for distribution, only 955, 287 PVCs (72.5 per cent) has been collected by their owners while 362,385 (27.5 per cent) were yet to be collected.
