The Chairman of the Cross River State Internal Revenue Service (CRIRS), Edwin Okon, has said the state plans to generate N10 billion monthly in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by leveraging newly introduced tax laws.
This initiative is aimed at strengthening the state’s revenue base, improving fiscal sustainability, and creating more resources to fund developmental projects across Cross River State.
Okon disclosed this on Friday in Calabar during the flag-off of a two-day strategy session organised for directors, unit heads, assessment authorities, and motor licensing authorities of the service.
The session, themed “Growing Cross River State Revenue: Building Investors’ Confidence and Leveraging on the Gains of the New Tax Laws,” is designed to reposition the revenue agency to adopt more strategic, data-driven approaches to revenue generation.
According to Okon, the initiative forms part of efforts to consolidate the state’s recent gains in revenue generation and provide more funds for the governor to implement developmental projects.
He noted that Cross River’s fiscal performance had witnessed significant improvement in recent years, with the state’s annual IGR rising from about N20 billion in 2022 to N60 billion by the end of 2025.
“Our plan for this year is to improve on those numbers and make the funds available for the governor to carry out his developmental projects. Cross River State has the potential of achieving N10 billion monthly once we get to where we want to be,” Okon said.
The CRIRS boss also revealed that the service had commenced a “train-the-trainer” awareness campaign to educate residents on the provisions of the new tax legislation.
According to him, A total of 196 representatives have been deployed across all wards in the state to sensitise citizens, traders, and religious organisations on tax compliance and the benefits of the new laws.
Speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission, Bong Duke, described the relationship between planning and revenue generation as symbiotic, stressing that effective planning requires sustainable revenue.
Duke urged revenue officers to adopt the mindset of “economic diplomacy,” explaining that investors were not afraid of paying taxes but were often discouraged by unpredictability and lack of transparency in tax systems.
He added that the new tax law would also serve as a data-gathering tool to help the government understand which sectors of the economy were thriving and where policy interventions were required.
Also speaking, the lead facilitator of the session, Victoria Madedor, urged participants to focus on actionable strategies that would translate into tangible revenue growth.
Madedor emphasized that the strategy session was not only meant to review past performance but also to develop practical approaches for achieving the state’s future revenue targets.
