The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has assured residents that his administration is on track to meet the N600 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) target for 2025.
This milestone, he emphasized, will fund transformative development projects across the state.
Governor Mbah made this declaration during his investiture as President of the Enugu Sports Club on Saturday night.
Addressing doubts surrounding the feasibility of the IGR projection, he highlighted his administration’s strategic shift from reliance on federal allocations to robust domestic revenue mobilization.
“When we took over, the state’s IGR was about N25 billion. This year, our projected IGR is N600 billion, and based on the numbers we are seeing, we are not only going to meet this target but surpass it. This revenue growth is what enables us to make significant interventions across all sectors, from education to healthcare and beyond,” Mbah stated confidently.
Reflecting on his administration’s ambitious target to grow Enugu’s economy from $4.4 billion to $30 billion, Mbah admitted that initial skepticism was widespread.
“At the time, the trending analysis did not support such a growth level. Achieving this target requires a 27 percent compounded annual growth rate, and some questioned how it could be realized,” he noted.
However, he affirmed that his inclusive growth strategy integrates all parts of the state into a cohesive economic plan.
What you should know
Enugu State has also made significant strides in agriculture to achieve the $30 billion GDP target.
- In February, the state government, in collaboration with WhiteRabbit Agro Limited, launched a 20-hectare pilot cocoa plantation in Nkanu East Local Government Area for large-scale production and processing.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Mr. Patrick Ubru, shared details of the initiative. “Our project partner is already developing 100,000 high-yielding and early producing cocoa varieties obtained from the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN, Ibadan).
This initiative is an opportunity for Enugu residents to embrace agro-business, make money, and contribute to the state’s economic growth,” he stated.
The commissioner further highlighted plans to expand the project into large-scale cocoa and palm plantations. “With all these developments in agriculture and agro-industrialisation, I sincerely believe we will surpass the $30 billion GDP target and achieve even more for the state’s development,” he added.
In a call for collaboration, Ubru invited individuals, corporate organizations, cooperatives, multinationals, and government entities to participate in the cocoa initiative and other agricultural projects.
