GOVERNOR Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State weekend reiterated his plan to reposition the state through the completion of all projects embarked upon by his administration, declaring that out of the 450 projects embarked upon in the last one year more than half of the projects have been completed and already in use.

Governor Akpabio said, though on assumption of office he was faced with myriad of problems and falling standard of infrastructure in the state, his administration immediately embarked on policies and projects that spread the dividend of democracy across board.

Speaking during a special presentation to newsmen in Yenagoa, the Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Aniekon Umannah accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Sir. Rapheal Edem and Director General (Information), Mr. Victor Ekpo, said all actions of the present administration of Governor Akpabio is geared towards fulfilling all electioneering promises made to the people of the state.

He said the completion of all the big projects such as the construction of the Ibom International Airport, the Independent Power Project (IPP), the Sea Port and the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) would lift the state up, saying "this standard of infrastructure will certainly attract more people and investors to the state.

"The spread of these projects is based on spreading the dividend of democracy to all communities in the state. And to ensure that the projects so executed make appreciable impact on the communities where they are located, the state government always consults with the people."
On the issue of security and militancy in the Niger Delta region, the Governor pointed out that though the state has recorded low incidence of kidnapping and militia attacks in the region, his focus when he assumed office was to rejuvenate the state security and ensure the empowerment of youths of the state.

With N1 billion targeted monthly from internal resources, Akwa Ibom makes taxation serious business.

If you have any intention of evading tax, please do not go to Akwa Ibom as there may be no hiding place. With the recent appointment of revenue consultants- ICMA Services (www.icmaservices.com) and the introduction of Revenue Enhancement and Monitoring System (REEMS) which is expected to rake in about N1 billion a month through internally generated sources; tax payment, which hitherto treated with levity, has become a momentous affair.

Presently, the state makes about 670 million NGN monthly but her finance commissioner, Mr Bassey Albert Akpan believes: "this is grossly inadequate for an administration that has the reputation of promptly meeting its capital expenditure and revenue overhead obligations".

While introducing the consultants - ICMA Services - to the press, the finance commissioner disclosed that the Revenue Enhancement and Monitoring System (REEMS) would be employed for real-time online monitoring of all internally generated revenue to change the basic revenue generating machinery and accounting procedures.

The commissioner further said that the various capital-intensive development projects embarked on during Victor Attah’s administration have been revived for the benefit of the people.
This has resulted in unprecedented and numerous project appointment exercises for the second quarter of the year.
He maintained that as Governor Akpabio’s administration has not taken any loan so far in the execution of the numerous development projects, it has become imperative to source for other ways of augmenting the proceeds from the federal account.

In order to facilitate the augmentation without perpetual recourse to borrowing, the state government aims to attain the sum of 1 billion NGN as minimum acceptable level of monthly internally generated revenue before the end of this year."
Still, won’t the seemingly ambitious amount lead to over taxation of the people in a state regarded as a civil service state?

Akpan disagrees. He believes Akwa Ibom is no longer a civil service economy with all the infrastructural developments put in by Governor Akpabio’s administration. More so, he held that the Akwa Ibom people are the least taxed residents in the whole nation.

With N1 billion coming in from within to augment Federal Allocation, then mega projects - the International Airport, the 5-star Hotel, the Science Park, the State University, the Ibom Power Company - started by Victor Attah’s administration but to be continued by Governor Akpabio, including the numerous new projects initiated by this regime, are guaranteed completion.

JOE EFFIONG (adapted).