Internally Generated Revenue for Sustainable Development of States

Workshop

The importance of IGR platforms automation to sustainable development in Nigeria particularly at States and Local Government levels cannot be over emphasized. And most importantly, it is time for States and local governments to take ownership of automated processes in governance and IGR especially, by building capacity of knowledge in readiness to absorb technical know-how transferable from IGR Consultants. As part of the strategic drive to compliment the efforts of the States and Local Governments in the Federation on improving the Internally Generated Revenue across the country: the JTB in collaboration with Blueberry Technology Solutions Ltd and other Automation Experts is organizing a two day workshop on: the imperative of IGR platforms automation to the economic prosperity of states in Northern Nigeria with the theme: Harnessing your IGR full potentials. This workshop is the first in its series and it is organized and batched by regions (Northern States in January 2018 and Southern States in March 2018) for maximum impact. This is also to allow delegates/participants grasp the peculiarities of regions on IGR matters that will be articulated during the workshop.

The Workshop Justification

IGR is critical to the survival of every State but with the dwindling revenue allocation from the Federal Government; all States need to look inward on how to fully harness their revenue potentials internally. The IGR are generated by States through Pay-As-You-Earn Tax (PAYE), Direct Assessment, Road Taxes and Revenues from their Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). While some States have automated some of these revenue collections via banks’ payment platforms, majority still run their critical IGR processes and operations manually which brings about widespread corruption amongst revenue officers, huge revenue leakages, tax payers’ extortion, poor compliance, inefficient enforcement operations etc. Hence, the Joint Tax Board (JTB) in collaboration with Blueberry Technology Solutions and other Automation experts is organizing the First Northern region Workshop on: THE IMPERATIVE OF IGR PLATFORMS’AUTOMATION FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY OF STATES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. THEME: HARNESSING IGR’S FULL POTENTIALS The aftermath of the workshop for the Northern States now and Southern States of the Country in February 2018, will further steer-up a strategic National re-orientation of States on the relevance of complete automation of their IGR units, that would bring about a National agenda for a complete ICT driven IGR for Sustainability and Economic Prosperity of States in Nigeria.

Expected Audience

This Regional workshop is to bring together all the stakeholders from the 19 Northern states including the FCT to a two day intensive sensitization and training on the deployment of critical ICT infrastructure and solutions for sustainable economic prosperity. Audience will include;

• Commissioners of Finance from the 19 Northern States, relevant Directors and Staff
• Heads Of Service from the 19 Northern States, relevant Directors and Staff
• Chairman, Internal Revenue Service from19 Northern States, relevant Directors and Staff
• Permanent Secretaries of relevant Ministries and Agencies
• Accountant Generals of the 19 Northern States relevant Directors and Staff
• Local Government Chairmen and relevant Staff in the 19 Northern States
• House Committee Chairmen on revenue/finance from the 19 Northern States House of Assemblies
• Local Government Service Commission relevant Staff in 19 Northern States.
• Commissioners for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the19 Northern States.

Date

• 15th and 16th of January 2018
• 8am daily

Venue

• Musa Yar –Adua hall, Murtala Square Kaduna Kaduna State. Nigeria.

Expected Workshop Outcome

• In furtherance to various consultative meetings of stakeholders at different levels on revenue and IGR issues, this Workshop is designed for actionable strategies and exposes participants to the concept of Government Business Process Optimization (GBPO) through Automation: by leveraging on Cloud Computing Technology for enhanced Revenue Generation at all levels of Government in the States
• The Technical Experts for this workshop have successfully automated IGR Business Processes across various States in Nigeria e.g. Kaduna, FCT, Lagos etc there will be practical sessions and end to end demonstrations from the various success stories through automation in these States. We strongly believe such can be extended to all other revenue generating Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of all States in the country particularly, Northern Nigeria
• This workshop will be a veritable platform for participants to network on comparative advantages of States and share experiences specifically on IGR improvement strategies
• The wealth of experiences of Speakers and facilitators at the workshop will greatly add value to participants’ new way of thinking on the subject matter and thereby brings about creative and innovative approach to revenue generation
• Other business Partners, Revenue Experts and Investment Angels who will be willing to invest in States are also expected at the workshop to discuss critical areas of concerns
• The workshop also aim to address funding issues associated with major ICT projects in States as well as the fears and challenges associated with process automation particularly within the Civil Service