•AKIRS to fully digitise operations
Akwa Ibom State Government raked in ₦43.18bn internally generated revenue (IGR) in the year 2023, an increase from N34.75bn in the preceding year.
his was disclosed Sunday, 18 November, by the Executive Chairman of Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service (AKIRS), Sir Okon Okon, at a press conference in Uyo.
According to Okon, the conference was organised to inform the public of the decisions reached at the end of his organisation’s two-day strategy session ahead of the 2025 tax year.
He explained that the revenue figures were sanctioned by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the country’s Joint Tax Board (JTB). The JTB is the apex body for tax authorities and final authority for reporting tax revenues in Nigeria.
Looking ahead, the tax czar disclosed that AKIRS would be speeding up on their digitalization programme next year by further expanding its automation processes and deepening its data-driven initiatives. These, he hoped, would improve AKFIRS’ operational efficiency significantly, and raise the States IGR, “without increasing any tax rate.”
Okon expressed confidence that even without increasing any tax rate, in-state revenue would be improved via technology deployment, upscaled tax awareness advocacy, and elasticisation of the tax net to include tax evaders.
Their focus for next year, the AKFIRS helmsman said, would be to move their “processes from a semi-manual system to full automation”, with the aim of achieving “an end-to-end automation of all our tax processes.”
Accordingly, Okon said that AKFIRS would rev up its1 ongoing tax sensitisation and enlightenment advocacy “to raise awareness on tax payment as a civic responsibility and deepen voluntary compliance.”
Allaying fears of more tax putting constraints on businesses, the AKFIRS chairman, stated, “We assure our taxpayers that in our efforts to consistently improve on the State’s IGR, we will be cautious not to embark on any initiatives that will stifle business growth or overburden our individual taxpayers, but will align with the impressive and favourable disposition of our dear Governor towards promoting SMEs, entrepreneurship and enabling the business environment.”
Sir Okon thanked Governor Umo Eno for supporting AKFIRS throughout the year and showing commitment to creating a friendly tax ambience for promoting ease of doing business bereft of multiple taxation.
He also thanked taxpayers, partners, stakeholders, the media, and the public for their cooperation with, and support for, his organisation in the outgoing year.
