By Genevieve Alozie.
According to a report by Economic Confidential Annual State Vialibility Index (ASVI) 2020, ranking states by Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), compared to the Federation Account Allocation (FAA), shows that Ondo state generates a quarter of the Federation allocation locally among other 8 states out of the 36 states of the federation.
This factor has proven that, the government of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, has not failed his people in the promises he made during the 2016 election campaign even after his reelection, he has continued to venture into remarkable investments to keep the state in front line of news in terms of development and good governance.
It is worthy to note, that Ondo state is gradually becoming an industrial hub as a result of its business friendly environment, the state now houses over 15 different companies. The state also partnered with big Dutch company to build a pig village. Other industrial activities such as Bitumen Exploration, Port of Ondo (Deep Sea), Jinyingmen Cassava to Ethanol, Sunshine Egg Processing plant, Lekki Araromi, Araromi Rubber Estate and Cocaset Sugarcane to Ethanol Plant etc. Are projects that have undergone visibility studies and are at the verge of kicking off.
Also the administration of Governor Akeredolu is committed to helping SMEs thrive in the state with his constant support through different initiatives, such as; Special Market Women improvement loan of the Ondo State Micro-Credit Agency, APALARA Scheme etc. This, also contributes to economic growth of the state.
As a result of the Governor’s transparency in leadership, all the ministries in the state now operate on transparency. For instance, revenue reporting is now properly accounted for. In Ondo state for the first time, the Office of the Accountant General and that of Ondo State Board of Internal Revenue (ODIRS) reported the same IGR figure for the year 2018 and 2019 respectively. Also, revenue generated by the tertiary institutions are now properly accounted for and reported appropriately.
These and other notable factors are the main reasons behind the increase in Ondo state Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which was N700million when Governor Akeredolu took over in 2017 to now N2.2 billion on monthly bases.
