Cross River Speaker pledges to tackle state’s financial leakages

The Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Elvert Ayambem, has assured that the assembly will legislate to improve internally generated revenue (IGR) in the state.

The Speaker stated this when he received the acting chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Mr Edwin Okon, who led his management staff on a courtesy visit to the Assembly.

“The 10th Assembly will legislate strongly on ways to increase IGR and will also look at ways of [blocking] leakages.

“We have lost so much revenue through the loss of Bakassi and the 76 oil wells, and we are almost the least in federal allocation, so we need to tighten all revenue-generating points,” Ayambem stated.

The Speaker further frowned at the situation where different ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) are collecting revenues, stressing that they should all channel such revenues through IRS for accountability.

He also stressed the need for all revenue leakages to be blocked, adding that revenue consultants who are not meeting their targets should be removed, no matter how highly placed they may be.

Speaking earlier, the acting chairman of IRS, Prince Edwin Okon, emphasised the need for all stakeholders to collaborate towards improving the state’s IGR.

He lamented the many illegal revenue checkpoints across the State, adding that IRS is working on partnering with the assembly, police, and other stakeholders to dismantle such illegal revenue points and improve revenue generation across the state.

The chairman further appealed to the assembly to amend bills on Land Use Charges and Tourism Development, among others, in line with current realities.

He further informed that consultants with heavy charges have been removed, adding that this has significantly improved the state’s revenue.

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