The Abia State government has announced an increase in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the first half of 2024.
According to Finance Commissioner Mike Akpara, the state generated N15,499,482,456.70 between January and June.
Speaking during a news briefing at the Government House in Umuahia, on July 9, Mr. Akpara highlighted the ongoing improvement in monthly revenue.
“Before now, we were running at year-to-date around 59 percent or 58 percent, but as of today, we are doing 62 percent and it is quite different from what we used to get.
“The IGR got from January to June was N15,499,482,456.70 and as of July 1 to July 6, we got N17,010,976,942.34,” the commissioner said.
Mr Akpara said from January to date, Abia generated an average of N17 billion, while in 2022, the IGR was N16 billion. He also mentioned that in 2023, there was a slight increase when the present administration came in, and figures showing a significant increase were recorded in the state’s IGR.
The Commissioner emphasized the importance of considering monthly revenue patterns.
“The way revenue comes in, you cannot say your IGR will be N3 billion. There is something called monthly average revenue. If you look at the monthly average revenue from June 23 to June 29, it was N2.5 billion.
“If June 23 to June 29 had an average revenue of N2.5 billion, that provides a clearer picture of the consistent income flow during that period. This means there might be a time when one would do N3 billion. There might be a time one would do N2.1 billion.
“From July 1 to July 6, our average revenue was N2.7 billion, indicating that our internally generated revenue (IGR) is cyclical and follows a specific cycle,” he said.
Mr. Akpara also mentioned Governor Alex Otti’s administration’s monthly revenue target of N4.3 billion, aiming for a total of N52.4 billion by year-end.
“We have ourselves set a target that is far away from what is in the budget so that it will ginger us to make sure we meet the target. But in the budget, it is not what we have but we are looking up to this to be able to meet the target stated in the budget,” he clarified.