The National Bureau of Statistics on Friday released the Internally Generated Revenue figures for states of the federation for the third quarter of this year, with 19 states generating a total revenue of N149.45bn.

The bureau in the report, a copy of which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja, stated that 17 states had yet to submit their IGR reports for the period.

The report stated that Lagos State recorded the highest IGR, with N73.74bn; while Ogun State followed with N16.9bn.

Delta recorded N13bn in IGR; Kaduna, N6.3bn; Oyo, N5.6bn; Enugu, N4.7bn; Bayelsa, N4.3bn; Akwa Ibom, N3.3bn; Cross River, N2.83bn; and Ondo, N2.7bn; and Plateau, N2.5bn.

Others are Osun, N2.4bn; Benue, N2.3bn; Imo, N1.6bn; Jigawa N1.6bn; Taraba, N1.5bn; Ekiti N1.3bn; Zamfara, N1.2bn; and Yobe, N1.1bn.

The report read in part, “A total of N149.45bn was generated by states in third quarter of 2017. This excludes Rivers, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Niger, Kwara, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Gombe, Edo, Borno, Bauchi, Adamawa, Abia, Ebonyi and Anambra states, which have not yet reported their IGR figures for Q3 2017.”

The Acting Chairman, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Shettima Abba-Gana, had said the decline in allocation from the Federation Account by over 30 per cent had made it imperative for the commission to assist states to increase their IGR.

He said while some states had made efforts to increase their IGR to a level that was up to the amount they were getting from the Federation Account, others had yet to make such efforts.

Abba-Gana stated, “We have a resilient economy that despite the drop in revenue by one third, things are still going on although with difficulty, and we are improving.

“Some states have now been able to raise their Internally Generated Revenue to a level that is enough to pay their salaries. And the others are also catching on. There is an increase in interest by the states to raise their IGR and to diversify.”

He added, “Some states are already generating the same amounts that they receive from the Federation Account and we must commend those states.

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