The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Tuesday said the state’s internal monthly revenue reduced by 20 per cent from N6 billion to N4.8 billion due to the economic recession.
Mr. Amosun made this known at the 8th National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment holding in Abeokuta, the state capital.
“We have continued to reap the benefits of our prudent financial management and re-engineered our internal revenue generation drive. We have increased our IGR from the modest sum of N700 million monthly which we inherited at the beginning of our administration in 2011, to over N6 billion per month in 2014, though, currently reduced to an average of N4.8 billion monthly due to the current economic recession in the country,” he said.
The governor called on the Federal Government to accord a special status to Ogun State, saying it has become an industrial capital of the country.
He pointed out that Ogun was next to Lagos in terms of non-oil revenue and that more companies have their operational base in Ogun than any other state.
Mr. Amosun said about 423 companies with a minimum of over N2 billion investment capital are currently operating from Ogun State. He said over 100 of these companies commenced operation during his administration while another 14 will commence operation soon.
The governor said partnering with the organised private sector has been the major thrust of his administration.
“To this end, our Administration has continued to maintain and expand on existing infrastructure while new ones are being constructed. The results of these infrastructural developments are seen in the increase in investment inflow into Ogun State’.
“As of now, our state is second only to Lagos State in the ratio of the monthly internally generated revenue to the monthly FAAC allocation. This has allowed us to sustain payment of workers’ salaries, while also continuing with other development projects in all other sectors of our economy,” Mr. Amosun said.
“According to the 2014 Ease of Doing Business sub-national rankings, our state recorded the most improvement of all the 36 states in Nigeria. This was compared to the state’s very poor ranking of 34th at the inception of our administration in 2011.
“We also introduced the concept of a “One Stop Shop” to assist investors in their interactions with government particularly during their early stage.”
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