James Agberebi
The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) has stated that the state’s major sources of revenue have dried up, necessitating out-of-the-box innovations to identify revenue potential and block leakages.
KADIRS chairman, Jerry Adams, stressed, during the launch of ‘Project CRAFT’ and the PAYKADUNA PORTAL in the state, that these initiatives represent a transformative approach to governance.
According to Adams, this will enable the state to leverage advanced data analytics and automation to enhance its capacity to generate revenue, curtail leakages, and improve service delivery to citizens.
He explained that over the last eight years, KADIRS has achieved significant recoveries, including N20 billion from back-duty audits, N18 billion from non-tax revenue sources (especially through the sale of government properties), exchange gains of about N42 billion from foreign loans/grants recorded as revenue, and land allocation reforms through the creation of KADGIS.
“However, these sources have dried up due to the privatisation of over 80% of government-owned properties, shrinking back duty recoveries, and the Federal Government’s pronouncement of a parallel regime in FOREX which phased out exchange gains as revenue,” he said.
“Now faced with these challenges alongside the huge debt burden on the state, the importance of innovative and out-of-the-box ideas to identify revenue potentials, improve accountability, block leakages, and expand the tax net – achieving both vertical and horizontal growth – cannot be over-emphasized.”
Adams further added that the launch of ‘Project CRAFT’ and the ‘PAYKADUNA PORTAL’ demonstrates the commitment of Governor Uba Sani’s administration to pacesetting, innovation, accountability, and excellence in public service reform.
He stated that Project CRAFT, which stands for Cross-Systems for Revenue Administration and Fiscal Transparency, marks the beginning of a new era in revenue generation and management for Kaduna State.
