The terror unleashed by bandits in various parts of Niger state has forced no fewer than 50 villages in five Local Government Areas to deserted their areas.
Gov. Abubakar Bello made the disclosure on Monday in Minna while opening a two-day training workshop for local government directors and revenue officers with a theme: ‘Strategies for Enhancing Internally Generated Revenue of Local Governments in Niger State.
The workshop was organized by the state Local Government Service Commission to explore ways of generating more revenue to tackle development challenges including security and refugee problems.
“Presently, we have over 3,000 internally displaced persons camping in Minna, aside from the ones we have in local government areas. Where do we get the resources to take care of them?
“It is time we cut down on our expenditure, come together to see how we can address issues of ghost workers and those looting the state of its resources,” he said.
Bello warned that the government would not hesitate to do away with those who were not adding value to the system.
He explained that the workshop was coming at a time when nations and the country were witnessing a drastic fall in revenue earnings due to COVID-19 and insecurity.
“The present revenue being generated cannot sustain the state’s developmental aspirations.
“Government must work within the law to augment the dwindling revenue collection to finance its activities.
“Government would not sustain the situation in most local governments who cannot survive without augmentation from others because of ghost workers”, he said
The Governor stressed that the state would no longer continue to borrow, just to survive.
He advised the participants to contribute to developing strategies of enhancing IGR at local government levels.
Earlier, Chairman of the Commission Alhaji Mohammed Dabban, said there was increased pressure for government officials to be accountable in management of finances.
He called on participants to learn from the vast experience of the resource persons to improve revenue collection and their performance.
In his welcome address, Mr. Nuhu Ngaski, Permanent Secretary of the commission said the workshop was to expose the participants to the revenue profile of each local government council in the state.
One of the resource persons, Malam Haruna Yahaya said the workshop was to promote transparency and accountability and ascertain the revenue profile of local councils and develop comprehensive strategies to enhance generation.
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