Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammed Bello has said the FCT Administration under him currently generates N200 billion yearly through an aggressive internal revenue drive and plans to surpass Lagos as the highest revenue generating state in the country.
This is even though he said that N1 billion (N500 million each) has been set aside to renovate the National Mosque and National Christian Centre in Abuja, to make them attractive tourist sites.
Bello spoke, yesterday, at a press briefing organised by Presidential Communication Team, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“With IGR, I can tell you that we have a robust database of over a million residents. Quite frankly, we are working on robust IGR. The figures I mentioned to you are actually in billions yearly. We’ve not reached a point where we have N200 billion per month. Our funding is from our IGR and then allocated from the federal budget.
“The bulk of the funding we use to run the territory actually comes from our IGR. In the formative years of the FCT, it used to be from federal allocation,” he said.
According to him, the widening of the tax net and efforts in terms of improving online land retitling will beef up the IGR.
MEANWHILE, the FCT Minister has canvassed the arrest and prosecution of high profile individuals, who seek bail for apprehended criminals with the intention to unleash them back on society.
This followed reports that such criminals were being released through the intervention of prominent individuals in the territory.
The arrest of the surety VIPs, according to the minister, will go a long way in reducing the criminality in the territory, just as he appealed to residents to expose those involved in freeing such criminal elements by reporting them to the relevant authorities.
Mohammed lamented the challenges in the criminal justice system, just as he said the three correctional facilities in the territory were filled to capacity and unable to take in more inmates.
The minister also said he had demystified the office of the minister by devolving real powers to agencies, which empowers them to carry out their responsibilities to avert undue interference.
