Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said that the state now has witnessed serious increase in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from industries for the first time since the creation of the state in 1996.
According to the governor, from the time he assumed office in 2019, the state IGR has increased from N7.1 billion to N20 billion annually.
Governor Sule stated this Thursday, at the media parley to give account of his first term in office at the Government House in Lafia.
He said, hitherto to his administration, the state has been purely a civil service state, which only gets resources from the federation accounts.
“Before I became the governor in 2019, Nasarawa State was not getting any revenue from industries because there was none.
“Today, I can tell you that the significant amount of our revenue is from the various industries we have attracted, that are operating in different Local Government Area of the state.
“We have raised the IGR from N7.1 billion to over N20 billion anally and as such we can now pay salaries of our workers for months even without allocation from federal government.
“We have Olam Rice in Doma, Dangote Sugar Refinery in Awe local government, Flour Mill Nigeria PLC in Toto and Axman Rice farm in Toto local government and Mabu Industry Gudi, Akwanga respectively.
“More than 30 per cent of the Mabu being sold at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja today is from Nasarawa State,” Sule said.
On agricultural sector, Sule said, his administration had constructed many rural roads that is facilitating the easy transportation of people and farm produce from rural communities to urban centres.
“We have also invested hugely in security to ensure that farmers and herders go about their economic activities without any fear of being attack.
“Because of the enabling environments created by our administration, the state has been rated first in the production of sesame seeds, fifth in rice production, second in cassava production among others,” he added.
He also said that the state in partnership with the private sector is currently building a Technology Village in Karu to harness the potential in Information Communication Technology (ICT).
He further said that with the discovering of oil in Keana, the state would benefit immensely and it would boost the revenue of the state when the exploration begins.
On workers’ welfare, the governor said, he has implemented the over 10 years outstanding promotions of workers, given permanent employment to casual staff, employed thousands of workers across the tertiary institutions in the State.
He said that since he assumed office in 2019, workers and pensioners were being paid 100 per cent and the state is not owing any salary.
The governor therefore called on the people to vote him again to enable him sustain the good works and improve on his achievements in the last four years.
