It was obvious that the administration in Kwara State under Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed needed to take serious action in view of the free fall of its federal monthly allocations since about two years ago, particularly, if it must continue to meet its obligations to the people of the state.

According to the state Commissioner for Finance, Alhaji Ademola Banu, the allocation to the state, last month, suffered yet another blow as Kwara, which used to get over N3 billion got N1.418b. N1,519, 879, 557.87 was received in April, representing a decline of about N101,578,565.48. Banu lamented that the current allocation is more than 50 per cent lower than what it was about a year ago.

The commissioner said although government's monthly wage bill currently stands at N2.4 billion, the government will continue to strive towards ensuring that workers’ wages and pensioners' entitlements are paid. Meanwhile, the former revenue agency in the state, Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), was raking in N600m against its target of N1 billion despite getting all the necessary assistance from government.

Thus it became apparent that Ahmed must take far-reaching decisions, if he must remain on that seat. It was this very tight financial situation that the administration found itself that led to the establishment of the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) to take over from the defunct Board of Internal Revenue (BIR).

This effort, aimed at making the state financially viable and economically sustainable, was already yielding positive results. Since his assumption of office as the Executive Chairman, Dr Muritala Awodun has not left any stone unturned to meet its monthly N5 billion target, thereby putting the state on a very sound financial footing to pay the monthly wage bills and execute other developmental projects in the state. Awodun, at a recent press conference, said the KWIRS generated N3.2billion in the first three months of 2016. According to him, N951m was generated in January, N1.04 billion in February and N1.2 billion in March.

Awodun said the service is expected to generate N6.6 billion in the second quarter of 2016. He explained that the Service had engaged over 1,000 people including 528 direct staff since it began operations in January, stressing that a labour intensive technology driven approach was adopted by engaging younger people across the state.

The Chairman of the Service disclosed that consultants were also engaged to enable the service meet its set target. On Local government revenue in Kwara, Awodun said that the 16 local government councils in the state generated N75million as revenue for the first quarter of 2016. Awodun also said that the service only worked with four items out of the 21 revenue generating items available.

On blocking leakages, the executive chairman said from May 1, citizenship applications and all other payments would be made online. He said charges at the judiciary in the state would also be reviewed to reflect the current realities and also advised residents in the state to make sure that they get the receipt of the exact amount they paid for services.

On properties enumeration, he said, the state is divided into three regions to facilitate the operation of the service. He called on residents to cooperate with the service in achieving its set objective and boost the revenue profile of the state. As part of the efforts of KWIS to bring all the tax due to the state into its coffers, an Ilorin High Court recently ordered the University of Ilorin to settle its outstanding tax liability of N970m to the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIIRS).

Justice Bayo Yusuf, who gave this ruling, noted that the application for stay of execution by the applicant (University of Ilorin) on the judgment earlier given in favor of the claimant (KWIRS) was not valid and was subsequently dismissed by the court.