Nasarawa workers to pay development levies to boost IGR

All category of workers in Nasarawa State will, henceforth, pay development levy to boost the states Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), according to Governor Umaru Al-Makura.
The governor made this known on Thursday in Lafia, the state capital, while receiving the report of the Transition Appraisal Committee set up to assess his administration’s performance since 2011.
He noted that given the harsh economic reality in the country, there was a need for all to make some sacrifices for the development of the state.
Al-Makura said that he had been able to pay salaries promptly in spite of the meager allocation from the Federation Account to the state in recent years.
He blamed the inability of the local governments to pay workers’ salaries to the over bloated workforce at that level of governance, adding that it needed to be critically looked into.
The governor explained that the revenue generation mechanism at the local government level lacked accountability and should be reviewed.
He said that currently 99 per cent of the state’s allocation and earnings were spent on paying salaries and allowances which was not acceptable.
Al-Makura said that the state would embark on aggressive IGR to augment the allocation and meet up with its task of developing the state.
While announcing the intended levy on workers, he said that he would also cut the allowances of all political appointees in his administration as part of the sacrifice for the development of the state.
Earlier, Mr Jonah Ogbole, the Chairman of the Committee, while submitting its report, acknowledged that Al-Makura’s administration had recorded appreciable achievements in the last four years.
He however said that a lot still needed to be done for the rapid socio-economic development of the state, “which calls for sacrifice from all the citizens of the state’’.