The Niger State Commissioner of Finance, Lawal Maikano, says Governor Umaru Bago-led administration is taking steps to block revenue leakages and replough the money into capital project financing.

He disclosed this in an interview with reporters upon his assumption of office on Tuesday in Minna.

Mr Maikano said the new administration had identified a lot of revenue leakages, adding that the governor is doing everything possible to end them.

“The desire of the governor is to ensure that basic amenities are available for the people, and we can only do that by ensuring judicious use of our scarce resources.

“We have identified a lot of waste, and the governor is doing everything possible to cut off such waste. Once that is done, we will have enough funds for capital projects that will impact the lives of the people,” he said.

He noted that his ministry would work closely with the Ministry of Planning Commission to ensure that budgetary allocations are strictly adhered to in line with the desires and needs of the masses.

On improving the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the commissioner said loopholes and leakages in revenue collection would be blocked to improve revenue from the N16 billion currently generated annually to N100 billion.

He added that this would be done by ensuring harmonisation of the revenue collection process and that all revenue collected is accounted for before spending.

He promised to make the Ministry of Finance a model through capacity building to have a highly motivated workforce.

(NAN)