Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has expressed gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his special interest in Ekiti State by releasing more resources for the state to carry out laudable people-oriented and legacy projects in the last three years of his administration.
Governor Oyebanji, who stated this during the official commissioning of the ultra-modern Ekiti Revenue House in Ado Ekiti, revealed that his administration has been commissioning a wide range of projects including roads, electricity, hospitals and water to mark his third anniversary in office.
The governor, who also revealed that his government has not taken any loan to finance the various projects undertaken by his government in the last three years, said his administration is committed to sustaining the development goals of the state.
He highlighted that the IRS played a fundamental role in driving the economic growth of the state and contributing greatly to the well-being of its citizens.
He commended President Tinubu for appointing Dr. Zacch Adedeji as the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), describing the appointment as a round peg in a round hole as it speaks to the President’s commitment to merit and excellence.
“I can be here to brag and beat my chest that in every project we have done in Ekiti State so far, we have not taken a loan to do any of them. And that speaks to the fact that we have a president who is transparent, who allows resources to be shared the way they should be shared.
“It is one thing for you to have the money in the center, another thing for the center to give it to you, but for once, in our history, Mr. President has given us more than our share of the federation’s allocation.
“Once again, I thank Mr. President for his support, he is the one who must take the glory before God for whatever achievement we have made as a government in Ekiti State.
“And I also pray that by the grace of God, Mr. President will run for the second time. All those reforms that Mr. President instituted and that some people abuse him are what we are gaining here. It is the benefit that we are using to implement most of this project. Mr. President has been good to us and I have no doubt that when the time comes to say thank you, it will be done through your vote,” Oyebanji said.
Governor Oyebanji took the opportunity to assure the Joint Tax Board (JTB) that his government will embark on a process to pass a law to unify the tax administration of the state through necessary legislation due to his belief and support for the national tax law signed by Mr. President to harmonize all taxes that will free up more resources for the sub-nationals.
Commissioning the project, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, commended the governor for bequeathing the building for revenue generating service in the state as well as the various historic infrastructures he has embarked on in the state, describing him as a capable hand in delivering dividends of democracy to the Ekiti people.
Adedeji further stated that there is no better publicity for tax payment than letting people see what the government is spending their money on, saying that innovation and fiscal discipline can achieve a lot if the right people like Governor Oyebanji are at the helm of affairs.
In his welcome remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ekiti State Inland Revenue Service, Olaniran Olatona, expressed his gratitude to Governor Oyebanji for providing the service with the necessary support to advance among other states of the federation.
Olatona, who noted that the building was not intended for personal aggrandizement, but was born out of the need to overcome the operational limitations of the current location that hindered vital collaborations and the extraction of data essential for modern revenue management.
He added that the state’s revenue trajectory has been transformative, with average internally generated monthly revenue increasing significantly to the point that Ekiti ranked first in the IGR growth rate published by JTB and the National Bureau of Statistics last year.
He stated that collective efforts have taken the state from 35th position to one of the top 16 states in the country, adding that the new data-driven and digitally enabled framework will ensure greater efficiency, transparency and collaborations, as well as an accountability framework that will give low-income people a break in tax administration.
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