The Kwara State governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Hakeem Oladimeji Lawal, has restated his commitment to increase the financial status of the state if elected in 2023.
Lawal, who spoke at an interactive session with media executives and journalists in Ilorin, the state capital, explained that the dynamics of the present realities required that things must be done differently to positively affect the lives of the people.
While unveiling his three-point agenda of infrastructural development, industrialization and human capital development, the former governor’s son said the tripod would be the primary foundation on which he intends to build his administration.
He said, “In order to secure a solid financial base for the state, our revenue target is about N10bn from the current N2bn monthly IGR of the state.
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“What our administration would do is to block all loopholes, reduce activities of consultants in revenue generation and motivate staff of Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS). This will help the state accrue more revenue because consultants will only take a percentage of want they collect. We will also improve staff welfare and reward excellent performance by civil servants.
“And when it comes to taxation, we realized that every single civil servant gets taxed, but the private sector doesn’t get taxed sufficiently. Why? This must be corrected.”
On education and human capital development, Lawal stated that if elected, his administration would revive technical schools and colleges.
He added, “Our people can hardly compete when it comes to technical know-how. If you look at the Building Industry for instance, many of the professionals competing there are from places like the Republic of Benin, Togo and Ghana.
“In order for us to move forward and regain past glory, we must first begin to re-assess ourselves and set up the same modules across these areas. It has worked for us in the past and must work for us again.”
Also speaking at the event, Architect Kale Belgore, the Director-General (Operations) of the SDP Campaign Council, emphasized that the party remained the only credible alternative for Kwarans in the present circumstances.
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