Lagos trains revenue officers on LRP, drives taxation with AI chatbot
L-R: From Left: Head of programme Management Office, Alpha Beta Consulting, Mr Femi Ajibade; Special Advisee, Corporate finance and Strategic investment, Lagos State, Mr Akintayo Sanwoolu; Head of Technical, Alpha Beta Consulting, Mrs Oyekemi Oyediran; Special Adviser, Taxation & Revenue, Lagos State, Mr. Ogungbo AbdulKabir Opeyemi; Director Monitoring and Intelligence, State Treasury Office, Lagos State, Mr Mahmoud T.J, a training session tagged, ‘Navigating the Lagos Revenue Portal (LRP) and the Lagos State Revenue Artificial Intelligence Chatbot (Madam Shikini).
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Lagos State Government, on Friday, organised a training session tagged, ‘Navigating the Lagos Revenue Portal (LRP) and the Lagos State Revenue Artificial Intelligence Chatbot (Madam Shikini).
It was organised as part of efforts to achieve its revenue goals for the year 2025, through the full integration of the Lagos Revenue Portal (LRP) and adoption of the Unique Payer ID.
The training for 450 revenue officers representing over 100 Revenue generating MDAs in Lagos State, who are champions of the LRP and Lagos State Revenue Artificial intelligence ChatBot also known as ‘Madam Shikini’, aimed to boost the taxation system in the state, and was promoted by the Lagos State Government Office of the Special Adviser, Taxation and Revenue.
Speaking at the event, the Special Adviser, Taxation & Revenue, Lagos State, Mr. Ogungbo AbdulKabir Opeyemi, recalled that Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, launched the LRP in August 2024 to revolutionize the Lagos State revenue landscape, and he followed the launch with an approved statewide circular for all revenue generating MDAs to integrate with LRP as “one-stop-shop” for all revenue matters in Lagos State.
He called the ever committed civil servants of Lagos State ‘Champions’, noting that the leap and progress recorded in its revenue couldn’t have been possible without the unwavering support and dedication of each and every one of them.
According to him, “As we embark on this crucial training, we are reminded of the importance of aligning ourselves with the statewide mandate that requires the integration of all revenue-generating Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) under a single, cohesive revenue framework (LRP) .
“This mandate is not just a policy directive; it is a call to action for us to embrace a unified approach to revenue collection, management, and accountability across the entire state. At the heart of this initiative lies the introduction and implementation of a Unique Identification System for all our payers.
“The statewide circular mandating the integration of all revenue-generating MDAs places a clear emphasis on the role of this Unique Payer ID in ensuring that we can track and monitor all revenue transactions in a secure, transparent, and efficient manner. The adoption of the Unique Payer ID will serve as a powerful foundation to allow us to create seamless, interlinked data sets for identifying taxpayers and businesses, and entities across all our revenue platforms.”
Speaking with the journalists at the sideline, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Corporate Finance and Strategy, Akintayo Sanwo-Olu, emphasised the significance of tax compliance and the introduction of a new tax reform.
He noted the need for civil servants and citizens to understand and meet their tax obligations to support the state’s revenue generation.
According to him, “And so for us, it’s one of the other measures we’re taking in order to engage, educate, you know, and let the fellow civil servants that are with us in this administration understand the basis for why there’s such a huge revenue drive, and for Lagos to be able to ensure that at the end of 2025, its budget is utilized to the best possible standard.
“Part of that order is to ensure that everybody from your basic civil servant to the directors to the PSAs to the appointees as well understand what is required of us, to ensure that all our revenue targets are met over the next year 2025.
“We need to also ensure that every officer within our administration is well aware of the requirements and what is required and everything that is meant to be delivered as an administration, be it at the sovereign level or at the sub national level, and ensure that everyone are in compliance with everything in order to ensure that we meet our immediate term votes.”
