Internally General Revenue (IGR) of the 36 state governments and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded a 11.7 percent negative growth in the 2020 half-year year-on-year IGR performance.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Kayode Fayemi, who disclosed this at the 6th annul IGR National Peer Learning Event in Abuja on Monday, blamed this on the COVID-19 pandemic and fall in oil price.
Governor Fayemi, who addressed the opening session of the meeting, which involved Commissioners of Finance and heads of tax authorities from the 36 states of the country and Abuja, however disclosed that three states – Ebonyi, Gombe and Yobe – recorded more than 50 percent growth despite the overall decline.
“This year has presented us with a perfect storm of difficulties to deal with – from a health pandemic to the second economic recession in five years.
“Unfortunately, the decline in oil prices that followed the global lockdown and the social unrest which echoed the demands of the ENDSARS protests further worsened the country’s economic and social conditions for months.
“This exacerbated the already vulnerable fiscal environment for governments at both the national and sub-national level,” the governor stated.
He also listed rising inflation rate, degrading exchange rate and growing unemployment, as other contributing factors.
The Ekiti State governor stated that the governors tried to rise up to the occasion by working with the Federal Government, international partners, and the private sector to deliver the necessary response needed to contain the COVID-19 and ease its impact on the lives of the citizens.
By Onyekachi Eze,
New Telegraph