WED, 11 MAY, 2022-theGBJournal | The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has charged Heads of Parastatals to evolve means of expanding their Internal Revenue Generation drive.
Sanwo-Olu gave the charge in his address at the maiden edition of the Parastaltals Revenue Generating Meeting (PARGEM) hosted by the Parastaltals Monitoring Office (PMO) at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja.
Mr. Governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Samuel Egube, emphasised the need to harmonise the operations of the State’s parastatals in order to enhance the IGR and consolidate on the achievements made so far by the present administration in its quest for economic development.
“It is on record that Lagos State is the fifth largest economy in Africa and we have to ensure that we put in place strategies to monitor our resources and expand our revenue base”, Sanwo-Olu said.
He emphasised the need for the Heads of Parastatals to expand their revenue-generating operations and ensure there are enough resources to fund the budget as well as provide the necessary social and physical infrastructure that will sustain Lagos as an ever-growing city with a population of over 22 million people.
On his part, the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, who spoke through the Permanent Secretary, Lands Bureau, Mr. Bode Agoro, commended the Parastatals Monitoring Office for organising the event which he described as the first-ever by PMO.
He urged the leadership of all Parastatals to avail themselves of the opportunity of the revenue-generating meeting, which would henceforth hold on a monthly basis, to seek necessary support from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget to help improve and achieve their revenue targets.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser, PMO, Mr. Afolabi Ayantayo said it is pertinent to put Lagos State in a better social and economic stead through effective collaboration in improving revenue generation.
“This meeting, which will now be held monthly, would focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPI), identify new sources of revenue, improve those from existing sources, deploy more technology, block leakages and profer solutions to challenges that impede operations of parastatals”, he said.
Ayantayo said that in order to enhance robust deliberations and get desirable outcomes, the State’s Ministries of Finance and Economic Planning and Budget will work with the Parastatals Monitoring Office to provide solutions to technical issues relating to revenue generation.
Acknowledging the support and cooperation of the leadership of the parastatals with the PMO, the Special Adviser assured Mr. Governor of the readiness of all Heads of Parastatals to raise the bar of performance in revenue generation so as to ensure the success of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda.
The Guest Speaker and Managing Director/CEO of Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC), Mr. Tobiloba Lawal, shared his experience on how he moved the Company to a profit-making organisation since he took over the mantle of leadership in 2019.
He advised the participants to collaborate with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with a view to maximising opportunities to improve their revenue base and bring more funds into government coffers, stressing that they can only enhance their revenue generation drive with effective collaboration and determination.
Miss Folakemi Osiyemi, Chief Finance and Accounts Officer of PMO also did a presentation on the revenue performance of Parastaltals from May 2019 to March 2022.
PARGEM was created to provide a platform for close monitoring of activities of revenue-generating agencies to identify and proffer solutions to issues hindering the generation of revenue in the State.
The initiative is also designed to get first-hand information on revenue generated, measure revenue performance vis-a-vis targets, examine the effectiveness of strategies adopted by parastatals in revenue collection and standardise methods of revenue collection among others.
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