By Sunday John, Lafia.
Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa says the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has dramatically increased from N7.1 billion when he assumed office to N20 billion annually.
Sule stated this, while giving account of his four-year stewardship at a media interaction on Thursday in Lagos.
He attributed the feat to the business friendly environment that was created by his administration, which encouraged the establishment of small-scale and large-scale industries across the state.
He said that the improvement in IGR was unprecedented since creation of the state in 1996.
The governor said that Nasarawa State was hitherto a purely civil service state, which largely depended on allocations from the Federation Account.
He, however, said that the situation had changed, as the state was now becoming a hub for economic development.
“Before I became governor in 2019, the state was not getting any revenue from industries because there was none.
“Today, I can tell you that the significant amount of our revenue is from the various industries we have attracted, that are currently operating in different local government areas (LGAs) of the state.
“We have raised the IGR from N7.1 billion to over N20 billion annually and as such, we can now pay salaries of our workers for months, even without receiving allocation from Federal Government,” he said.
Sule listed some of the industries operating in the state to include Olam Rice in Doma LGA, Dangote Sugar Refinery in Awe, Flour Mills Nigeria Plc. and Azman Rice farm in Toto, as well as Gudi Marbles in Akwanga LGA.
“More than 30 per cent of the marbles being sold at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, today is from Nasarawa State,” he added.
The governor stressed that his administration had constructed so many rural roads to facilitate the transportation of people and farm produce from rural communities to markets and urban centres.
“We have also invested hugely in security to ensure that farmers and herders go about their economic activities without any fear of being attacked.
Sule said that his administration’s commitment to the development of the agricultural section had yielded great results.
“We have been rated first in the production of sesame seeds, fifth in rice production and second in cassava production, among others,” he added.
He noted that the discovery of petroleum in the state would further boost the IGR when its exploration began.
On the welfare of the state’s workforce, Sule said that he had implemented the over 10 years’ arrears of workers’ promotions and formalised the appointment of casual workers.
The governor said that since inception of his administration, he had ensured the full payment of workers and pensioners’ entitlements, while working towards the provision of a favourable working environment.
He, therefore, called on the people to re-elect him in order to enable his administration to consolidate achievements it had so far recorded.
