Jalingo — Taraba State Acting Governor Garba Umar has threatened to sack commissioners that fail to increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in their ministries in an effort to meet the 2013 budget.

The acting governor has set target for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to increase revenue generation threatening that heads of MDAs that fail to meet the targets risk being sacked.

He said "I have given commissioners targets to meet in raising the revenue profile of the various MDAs under them and if they do not meet the target we will simply shake hands."

Umar who disclosed this after signing the 2013 appropriation act into law yesterday in Jalingo said it has become necessary to set targets for the MDAs in order to meet the challenge of financing a deficit-free budget.

He explained that the 2013 budget which amounted to N73.4 billion was less than the 2012 budget by about N400million because internally generated revenue of the state was very low while the state must avoid a deficit budget.

Umar had presented a budget of N73.4 billion to the state House of Assembly, with recurrent expenditure taking N38.8bn while N34.5bn was earmarked for capital expenditure.

Explaining further the acting governor emphasized that all monies allocated for specific purposes must be applied for the purpose intended.

While commending the state House of Assembly for timely passage of the budget, the acting governor said the cordial relationship that exists between the two arms of government has manifested in the quick passage of the budget, "a sign that government is working in Taraba state," he added.

He said government will ensure budget discipline by building more roads, expand the Jalingo Airport runaway, open up rural areas and improve social services in the state.

Earlier, the deputy speaker of the assembly Peter Abel Diah advised the executive arm of government to ensure quick release of budgetary provisions for speedy development of the state.