Bauchi Governor Bala Mohammed says the state is taking measures to consolidate its revenue bases and strengthen its internally generated revenue in order to reduce shortfalls in revenues arisen from dwindling oil prices.
The Governor made the remarks while receiving the report of the State COVID-19 Economic Recovery Committee held at the Government House Bauchi.
The governor who insisted that, his administration cannot afford to fail the citizens of the state said exploring other avenues to generated revenue and diversify the economy was necessary.
According to him, exploring alternative revenue generating mechanisms would assist the administration to continue with the execution of the developmental projects geared towards ensuring the advancement of the state.
He said implementation framework that would adopt the committee’s report will be put in place.
“We thanked members of this committee for very good report presented to me; we thanked Allah for the initiative. Already in Bauchi we are deepening contact tracing, surveillance, sensitisation and we are not denying anything on COVID-19.
“As a leader, transparency will be my guiding principle, we must be open in all we do, we cannot afford to fail our people; we must pay salaries and other entitlements of both workers and retirees.
” Bauchi state is a civil service state, in my administration I want the labour to have its integrity considering the total collapse of industries in our state”, the governor insisted.
The Governor said depending on the federal allocation was no longer tenable, hence the need for the state to explore alternative means of revenue generation.
” I am ready to delegate any responsibility to members of my cabinet because of their pedigree in management; yes we need assistance from critical stakeholders but we must look inward to source for our revenue.
Dr Aminu Hassan Gamawa , the State Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, who is the Chairman of the Committee, pledged the readiness of the committee to assist in ensuring the full implementation of the recommendations.
Dr Gamawa said the committee had worked diligently in accordance with its terms of reference through the use of different methodologies including, stakeholders’ engagement, dialogue, and review of measures taken by other states.
“We have looked at different sectors of the economy; that is key to ensuring that the state has alternative sources of revenue, economic growth and sustainability in the midst of COVID-19”, Gamawa said.
He regretted that, the negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic did not only affect the Health sector, but affected the economy of the world.
It would be recall that the State COVID-19 Economic Recovery Committee was set up by Governor Bala Mohammed to identify clear alternative sources of funds that will augment the current revenue shortfalls of the state.
covid-19: Bauchi govt takes measures to strengthen revenues amidst pandemic
