Yobe government to review obsolete tax laws

The Yobe government has said it will review obsolete tax and revenue charges inherited from defunct North Eastern state 40 years ago, to boost its Internally Generated Revenue.

Alhaji Idi Gubana, Yobe Commissioner for Budget, stated this in Damaturu on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

“Some Ministries, Departments and Agencies had, during the budget discussion, complained on obsolete tariffs like 5kobo, 10kobo and 20kobo revenue charges but lacked legal framework to review the charges,” he said.

The commissioner attributed the drop in statutory allocation and low internally generated revenue as responsible for the shortfall in resources accrued to the state for the outgoing year.

He said of the estimated N88.9 billion budget for the year 2016, only N49.8 billion was actually realized, as such government must look inward to boost the revenue base of the state.

He said government had through the state ministry of Justice reviewed such obsolete laws to be presented to the state legislature for passage into law.

Gubana said improved revenue in 2017 would provide opportunity for job creation as the protracted security challenge suffered by the state affected the economy and revenue generation in the state badly.

“The normalcy returning to the state is impacting positively on economic activities, which will translate into growth in revenue generation for the state government,” he said.

NAN reports that Yobe Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam on Thursday, presented a budget proposal of N69.3 billion for 2017 to the assembly, as against the N88.9 billion budget of 2016.