The Executive Chairman, Bayelsa Board of Internal
Revenue (BIR), Dr Nimibofa Ayawei, has attributed the rise in Bayelsa’s monthly
internally generated revenue above N1billion mark to deployment of
electronic collection system.
Ayawei, who spoke while receiving a 14-seater
Toyota bus from the management of Access Bank, said the government of Bayelsa
had abolished the cash based tax payment system and subsequently blocked
revenue leakages which boosted the state’s revenue.
He said that the progressive rise in monthly
revenue from about N300 million monthly before the reforms in 2017 to the N1
billion mark was a fallout of the automation of the revenue collection process.
“We are reaping the rewards of the recent
re-engineering of the revenue collection process and deployment of electronic
payment plattforms that captures the funds accruing to the state.
“We have since abolished the cash payments and this
has been responsible for the increased revenue.
“We leveraged on the expertise of our lead bankers,
Access Bank, which today is donating a bus to boost our operations.
“We feel encouraged by the gesture and express
gratitude to the bank; we know that other financial institutions will follow
shortly,” Ayawei said.
The monthly internal revenue of the state in
October 2017 hit a peak of N1.3 billion.
Mr Kakiri Flint, the Relationship Manager, Public
Sector in Access Bank, Yenagoa, said the gesture was part of the bank’s social
obligations to boost the revenue drive of Bayelsa Government.
He said that the bank had deployed its expertise
and provided technical support to the blockage of leakages in the revenue
collection system.
“We have a history of relationship that dates back
to 2006 and we have made progress.
“We played a role in the use of biometeics in the
payroll which also led to the substancial reduction in the state’s wage bill
from over N6 billion to the current figure of about N3.8 billion.
“The donation of the bus today is meant to ease the
work of the Bayelsa Board of Internal Revenue as well as part of our corporate
social responsibility,” Flint said.
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