LIRS workshop on councils’ revenue collection holds today

Stakeholders in the revenue collection system of the state, local councils and council development areas of Lagos State will gather at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, today, to explore how to make revenue collectors more professional in handling their functions.

The workshop is sponsored by the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) to increase the capacity of local revenue collection organs by adopting best practices and learning from the experience of the state revenue agency.

LIRS Chairman, Mr. Ayo Subair, is expected to declare the workshop open while Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government & Community Affairs, Robert Kayode, will address the participants.

Also billed to address the workshop is the Chairman of Lagos State Local Government Service Commission, Kamal Baiyewu; former Secretary of the LIRS board, Mr. Bicci Alli; among others.

Chairman of Conference of 57 Chairmen of Local Councils, Kolade Alabi and Permanent Secretary, Local Government, Establishment, Training & Pensions, Mrs. Kikelomo Bolarinwa.

The representatives of council managers, treasurers, human resources officers and chairmen of local government revenue committees from the five divisions of the state will share their experiences on how revenue collection function will help councils raise more revenues.

A statement by Korki & Associates, the workshop facilitators, said it would discuss the increasing need for the set of skills needed to efficiently organise and execute revenue collection functions at the lowest tier of government to boost revenue urgently needed to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.

Lead Consultant at Korki & Associates, Kehinde Bamigbetan, commended the LIRS for its exemplary demonstration of leadership and commitment to raising the bar of revenue collection to the standards attained at the state level.

He said if many state governments could benefit from the business model and efficient management of revenue collection of the LIRS, the councils needed to take advantage of its expertise to grow their revenue.