The Benue State Government has unveiled plans to increase its internally generated revenue (IGR) to N3 billion per month by 2025. The goal is to finance the new minimum wage and address outstanding pension payments.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi, the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Michael Oglegba, revealed that under Governor Hyacinth Alia’s leadership, the state's IGR had surged from N600–700 million to approximately N2 billion monthly in just one year.
Oglegba highlighted that the objective is to ensure consistent and timely payments of salaries and pensions without delays.
“We have a very ambitious plan to raise revenue to over N3 billion each month,”; Oglegba said. “Achieving this will allow us to pay salaries and pensions comfortably from our IGR, but it will require significant effort on our part.”;
He also emphasized that the target for this year is to use IGR to pay the new minimum wage, ensuring that both civil servants and pensioners are paid.
Oglegba credited the growth in revenue to measures aimed at plugging revenue leakages, rather than introducing new taxes. This approach has helped the state consistently meet its salary obligations without placing additional financial strain on the population.
While the government plans to avoid imposing new taxes, Oglegba pointed out that efforts to collect taxes from evaders will be ramped up through all available legal means.
Achieving the N3 billion monthly target would not only guarantee timely salary payments but also enable the government to address other critical needs of the state's residents, he added.
