The Lagos State Government says it is intensifying efforts to diversify its economy and boost Internally Generated Revenue through a partnership with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
The Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, said this during a visit by the RMAFC to Lagos House in Ikeja on Tuesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the RMAFC tour, which will be across the 36 states, aims to assess the current efforts of states in terms of policies, programme and projects toward enhancing the diversification of their economy.
According to him, IGR is the backbone of Lagos economy and collaboration with RMAFC is crucial for unlocking funding and investment opportunities.
We are dreaming very big for Lagos State so that we can get to the objective of what Mr Governor has set out to achieve for the citizens.
“The task of ensuring Lagos State continues to have a robust and diversified income base, driven substantially by IGR, remains predicated on the support, cooperation and collaboration with our partners at the federal level.
“Internally generated revenue is the mainstay of Lagos, and the state remains a trailblazer in the country even as Federal Accounts Allocation share of revenues is shrinking,” he said.
Oluyomi revealed that Lagos had achieved significant IGR growth, increasing it to 70 per cent in five years.
Alhaji Ismail Agaka, who led the RMAFC team, noted that one of the commission’s functions was to advise federal and state governments on economic diversification.
“One of the functions of the Revenue, Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission is to advise the federal, state and local governments on how to diversify their economies and collaborate with them in this regard.
“We’ve been doing this for years, including summits with various states, dating back to 2004,” he said.