Bauchi leads northeast as IGR hits N7.04bn in nine months

Bauchi state has set a 2018 record in its internally generated revenue (IGR) which hit N7.04 billion in just nine months.

Tunde Fowler, executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) made this known at the 142nd meeting of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) in Bauchi on Monday.

Fowler, who is also the chairman of the JTB said the state’s growth rate went up by 10.01 percent in the third quarter of 2018, placing it top 10 nationwide and number one in the north-east.

“You may wish to note that Bauchi State is actually one of the success stories when matters of IGR are discussed, both at the regional and at the national levels,” Fowler said.

“Computation of IGR collection for Bauchi State for the nine-month period January to September 2018 hit N7.04 billion. This figure has already outperformed the full year 2017 IGR figure of N4.36 billion with a percentage margin of 61.2%.

“Average quarterly growth rates for Bauchi as at Q3 2018 is 10.01%, which places it among the top ten highest average quarterly growth rates nationwide for the period.

“At the regional level, Bauchi State is actually setting a healthy pace for the region as her 9-month collection in 2018 is just over 26% of the entire IGR collected by the six states within the region.”

Fowler said an ongoing database consolidation of the JTB, an initiative being executed in collaboration with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) projects that Nigeria’s taxpayer population will exceed 33 million.

He noted that “significant investments via the provision of required infrastructure, equipment and capacity building for personnel” will be put into the initiative, thus opening the door to immense opportunities for the tax administrators at all levels.