The Benue State Government has announced plans to increase its internally generated revenue (IGR) to over N3 billion monthly by 2025 in a bid to sustainably fund the new minimum wage and clear outstanding pension liabilities.

Commissioner for Finance, Michael Oglegba, disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Makurdi. He noted that the state’s IGR had grown significantly from N600–N700 million to about N2 billion monthly within one year under the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

Oglegba emphasized that the state’s ambitious revenue target is key to ensuring the regular and timely payment of salaries and pensions without relying heavily on federal allocations.

“We have a very ambitious plan, which is to still grow the revenue to more than N3 billion per month. Doing so will enable us to pay salaries and pensions comfortably from the IGR, but this would require a lot of work from us,” he stated.

He added that the government’s immediate focus this year is to use internally generated funds to fully implement the new minimum wage for workers and extend the payment coverage to pensioners across the state.