The Kogi State Government has rejected the statistical agency, BudgIT Foundation’s widely publicised report on internally generated revenue across the 36 states of the Federation titled ” State of States 2022 Edition” with respect to the states financial health status.
In a letter to the Foundation’s director by the state commissioner of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mukadam Asiwaju Asiru Idris,FCA, the state Government described BudgIT Foundation’s ranking of Kogi State as having an IGR N16,804,952, 287bn for 2021 as inaccurate, misleading and a flagrant distortion of fact.
The Honourable Commissioner provided the states Audited report from the state’s Audited Financial Statement, duly signed by the States Accountant General, which put the states IGR for 2021 at N23,405,613,863.00bn.
Aftermath the presentation of fact by the Honourable commissioner, which presents the year-on-year increase and status quo of the States IGR for 2021, therefore, demanded a retraction of the publication, which he said has caused the Confluence state a reputational damage and a misconstrued public perspectives. As a follow-up, the state also demanded an immediate publication of the updated figures and true ranking of the state on BudgIT Foundation website.
The Kogi State Government position has since been corroborated by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) which, on Tuesday, released the correct IGR figures for Kogi State, confirming the efforts by the Alhaji Yahaya Bello led New Direction Administration to put the economy on a viable track and make Kogi haven of sustainable investments.
According to NBS, in it’s latest report, the 36 states and the FCT recorded IGR to the tune of N1.89 trillion in 2021 as against the 2020 figure of N1.56 trillion, which represents a 22 percent year-on-year positive growth.
According to the report, Kogi State grew her IGR from N17.46bn in 2020 to N23.4bn in year 2021, which penultimately indicates a year-on-year increase in IGR as a state and also an excellent performance on the IGR index, being the number 16th amongst the 36 states plus FCT and the 5th amongst the 19 Northern States.
According to the available records, as verifiable in the states Audited Financial statements and the NBS, Kogi State Under the Leadership of His Excellency, Governor Yahaya Bello has witnessed a steady increase in the IGR, premised on his purposeful style of leadership, which has aided the birth of critical reforms in fiscal, financial management and economic affairs of the state.