Speaking through his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat at the opening ceremony of the Federations Accounts Allocation Committee’s Retreat being hosted by Lagos State,he declared; ‘’We must do everything within our power to create and boost new sources of export, especially along the lines of value-added agriculture and manufacturing’’
He also asked the State Governments to ‘’explore ways of reducing dependency on what comes from the federation account on monthly basis by adopting creative and innovative strategies to boost IGR’’. While calling for innovative strategies by State Governments in the area of internally generated revenue, the Governor called for ‘’a new fair and just revenue-sharing formula for federation revenues’’.
He added ‘’there is actually a correlation between an appropriate revenue formula and the ability of federating units to achieve a meaningful diversification and sustainable growth in IGR’’.
Declaring further that Lagos deserves a special status funding, Sanwo-Olu said ‘’Lagos shoulders a heavy burden, which if not properly discharged poses great danger to the attainment of our national economic growth aspirations’’.He stated that Lagos needs help if it is to be able to meet the challenges of half a million people migrating into Lagos daily.
According to the Governor, the new revenue formula should take cognizance of population density in addition to nominal population while also increasing Lagos’s Share of VAT. He decried Lagos getting 10% of VAT while contributing 55% as equitable.