COVID-19 forces Taraba to look inward for revenue

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which wrought disruptions in the social and economic life of societies, has forced the Taraba shift from dependence on external sources of revenue.

The Guardian observed that the state government has begun to fashion out ways of exploring the abundant untapped resources in the state.

While briefing newsmen yesterday on the 2021 approved budget of the state, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Solomon Elisha, stated that the government was determined to shift attention from external resources to harnessing the available resources in the state.

He, however, affirmed that there would be need for all hands to be on deck to explore the abundant untapped resources, “to actualise our dream of becoming the leading economy in the North East.”

He said the focused of the budget was to complete ongoing projects, despite the economic downturn and the second wave of the pandemic.

The Governor Darius Ishaku government, he said, has “carefully tailored our budget to a realistic estimate of N141,625,435,961.80, which is even lower than the amended 2020 budget.”

Stressing that 36.64 per cent of the state’s expected revenue would come from statutory allocation, 14.67 per cent from internal loans, 10.6 per cent from Value Added Tax (VAT), and 6.55 per cent of Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR).

“You will agree with me that there is need for paradigm shift from dependence on external sources to the internal sources. Tarabans, irrespective of political differences, must join forces with the state government to realise the aforementioned dream.”