It is not an understatement to say that there has been a purposeful leadership at the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue. The last four years has been an eventful one at the board due to the foresight and ingenuity of the Chairman of the board, Alhaji Hamman Adama Njabari, who was appointed by the former governor of the state, Senator Muhammad Bindow Jibrilla, and later reappointed by the present Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintri on his ascension after the 2019 elections.
Upon his ascension as the chairman of the board, he embarked on an aggressive turn around on the revenue generation in the board by putting the right personnel. This was done in order to complement the allocation of the state from the federation allocation as well as blocked the leakages hitherto being exploited by corrupt personnel.
He put in highly professional and skillful personnel, who are versatile in tax administration in the right places in the board. This has greatly yielded great results in every ramifications. His experience and sagacity in tax administration is quite legendary because he always has it in mind to put qualified hands in the right place.
This greatly helped in no small measure in turning around the revenue generation of the state under the Governor Ahmadu Fintri›s administration. No wonder, the board received accolades from the administration. The chairman of the board, Alhaji Hamman Adama Njabari, in any given assignment does it without any blemish.
One unique quality associated with him is he was able to make himself available whenever he was given an assignment. This is what he carried out in the last four years as the chairman of the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue.
But since his appointment in the last four years, positive changes have become noticeable; large scale institutional reforms rolled the Adamawa State Board of Internal Revenue into a more efficient organ of generating revenue for the government.
For the first time, transparent electric windows to rule out sharp malpractices saddled with the responsibility of generating revenue with the introduction of direct payment for vehicle registration online as well as application for driver›s license.
The feat recorded is attributed to the increased adoption of technology and steady blockage of leakages within the tax administration system in the state. And it has paid off well for the state.
The past four years, the board witnessed a great transformation with the erection of conducive offices to ease the problem of lack of office in the day to day running of the board. It is to his credit, the construction of additional office accommodation in the premises of the board today.
This was done in order for the workers of the board to put in more efforts for effective and efficient service delivery. Operational vehicles were purchased to ease the problem of lack of transportation if there is any work to be done in the board. Staff of the board stationed at the liaison office in Abuja and Lagos were greatly motivated with prompt payment of their allowances. One of the remarkable landmark was the resolution of confidence passed by the Adamawa State House of Assembly in the chairman for increasing the internally generated revenue of the state in the past four years, which enabled the government of Governor Fintri to deliver the much touted dividend of democracy to the people of the state.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the present chairman is the right thing to happen in the history of the board. He is an all rounder, who is trying his possible best at this material time that government at all levels are exploring avenues to tap revenue to complement the scarce resources at their disposal to provide good governance.
The present administration of Governor Fintri is tapping from his wealth of experience in tax administration and he is the type that should be encouraged in public service.
• Usman Santuraki, a Public Affairs analyst, writes from Jimeta-Yola.