The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia, Dr. Okezie Igbeazu, says he will raise the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to N1 billion monthly, if elected.
Igbeazu said this on Thursday in Umuahia at a valedictory town hall meeting with professional groups, organised by the Abia Democratic Coalition for PDP’s senatorial candidate for Abia central, Gov. Theodore Orji.
Represented by his running mate at the event, he promised to improve on the feat recorded by the outgoing administration in boosting the state’s IGR from about N250 million to N600 million monthly.
‘’in view of the decline in oil prices and the state’s share from the Federation Account, the first thing we will do when we come into office will be to raise the IGR to N1 billion,’’ Ikpeazu said.
Speaking on the occasion, the governor noted that the federal allocation to Abia dropped from between N4 billion and N5 billion to slightly above N2 billion monthly.
He said that the development affected the implementation of government programmes.
He listed some of the achievements of his administration as the construction of over 250 health centres across the state, unification of the political class and the war against kidnapping.
Orji promised to interface with his colleagues in the senate to create jobs in Abia, if elected.
‘’When I get there, I will survey the place and you know that as a senator, I will employ people and I am going there with some of my colleague governors; I will work with them to bring job opportunities to the state,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, analysts say that the N1 billion IGR target by Ikpeazu could only be realised with increased taxes on residents and property.