The 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory generated N5.15tn in internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2025, with taxes deducted from workers’ salaries providing the biggest source of tax revenue, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed.
The most recent Internally Generated Revenue at State Level report, released on Thursday, revealed that total IGR climbed by 40.93 percent, up from N3.65tn in 2024.
This indicates that subnational governments collected roughly N1.50tn more in revenue over the course of a single year.
“The 36 states and the FCT generated a total of N5.15tn in 2025, indicating a growth rate of 40.93 percent from N3.65tn recorded in 2024,” the NBS said.
A breakdown revealed that tax revenue made up N3.79tn, or 73.64 percent of total IGR, while revenue generated administratively by ministries, departments, and agencies came to N1.36tn, accounting for 26.36 percent.
Pay As You Earn tax was the largest component, bringing in N2.64tn. This accounted for 69.51 percent of all tax revenue and roughly 51.3 percent of the entire N5.15tn collected by states and the FCT.
In effect, more than N1 out of every N2 generated internally by subnational governments came from PAYE, underscoring their continued dependence on formal-sector workers as a key source of domestic revenue.
The bureau said, “PAYE was the most tax revenue recorded during the period, valued at N2.64tn, representing 69.51 percent of the total tax revenue collected, while capital gains tax was the least with N12.40bn.”
The NBS describes PAYE as personal income tax taken straight out of the wages and salaries of employees in the formal sector, with employers tasked with deducting the taxes from their employees’ earnings. Other tax sources covered in the report were direct assessment, road taxes, stamp duties, capital gains tax, withholding taxes, other taxes, and local government revenue.
The report also revealed a substantial disparity in revenue capacity among states. Lagos brought in N1.77tn, the highest nationwide and roughly 34 per cent of the national total. This indicates that about N1 out of every N3 of IGR gathered nationwide came from Lagos.
Rivers came second with N428.42bn, while Enugu took third place with N406.77bn. The NBS stated, “Lagos, Rivers, and Enugu states recorded the highest IGR with N1.77tn, N428.42bn, and N406.77bn, respectively, over the reference period.”
However, the make-up of their revenues varied considerably. Lagos collected N1.48tn in taxes and N292.64bn from MDAs, whereas Rivers brought in N414.38bn from taxes and N14.03bn from MDAs.
In Enugu, the pattern was the opposite, with just N51.52bn from taxes, while MDAs contributed N355.25bn.
The FCT brought in N356.34bn, trailed by Ogun with N252.36bn and Delta with N202.49bn. Edo posted N132.21bn, while Oyo, Kano, and Akwa Ibom generated N103.25bn, N102.26bn, and N100.80bn, respectively.
At the bottom end, Yobe posted the lowest IGR at N16.01bn, followed by Ebonyi with N17.18bn and Sokoto with N20.48bn. This gap means Lagos generated over 110 times Yobe’s IGR during the year.
Taraba generated N28.16bn, Benue N29.57bn, Zamfara N30.07bn, and Kebbi N31.23bn, highlighting the stark differences in taxable economic activity and administrative revenue capacity among states.
The NBS said the IGR figures were put together by the Joint Revenue Board from official records and submissions by State Boards of Internal Revenue.
It added that the figures were open to reconciliation and updates by the respective subnational revenue authorities.
The breakdown of the 2025 IGR is below:
1. Lagos — N1,769,194,412,060.40
2. Rivers — N428,417,013,536.88
3. Enugu — N406,774,321,759.79
4. Federal Capital Territory — N356,335,315,921.56
5. Ogun — N252,355,976,698.73
6. Delta — N202,487,494,875.67
7. Edo — N132,208,875,552.12
8. Oyo — N103,246,442,472.57
9. Kano — N102,258,691,486.44
10. Akwa Ibom — N100,804,815,364.47
11. Kwara — N95,356,710,598.87
12. Kaduna — N86,749,688,478.31
13. Abia — N70,407,342,852.10
14. Jigawa — N66,725,082,001.43
15. Niger — N66,371,354,137.94
16. Katsina — N64,290,808,626.43
17. Ondo — N60,320,737,217.15
18. Cross River — N58,638,597,004.73
19. Ekiti — N57,091,304,238.63
20. Anambra — N57,028,415,169.60
21. Osun — N56,843,623,771.08
22. Bauchi — N52,789,744,733.97
23. Bayelsa — N50,302,628,155.03
24. Plateau — N45,102,595,256.86
25. Gombe — N43,961,922,502.29
26. Kogi — N43,941,056,863.67
27. Imo — N43,649,954,888.81
28. Borno — N36,363,692,550.83
29. Adamawa — N33,761,382,439.38
30. Nasarawa — N32,567,443,747.98
31. Kebbi — N31,230,456,665.87
32. Zamfara — N30,069,202,805.01
33. Benue — N29,567,495,770.16
34. Taraba — N28,160,167,919.62
35. Sokoto — N20,476,104,778.04
36. Ebonyi — N17,182,701,334.85
37. Yobe — N16,006,661,533.06
According to the NBS, the figures cover revenue from Pay-As-You-Earn, direct assessment, road taxes, stamp duties, capital gains tax, withholding tax, other taxes, local government revenue, and revenue produced by MDAs.
The report indicated that Pay-As-You-Earn brought in N2.64tn across the jurisdictions, while withholding tax accounted for N503.46bn.
Stamp duties brought in N111.57bn, direct assessment N112.65bn, road taxes N49.88bn, and capital gains tax N12.40bn.
Other taxes accounted for N300.21bn, while local government revenue came to N65.82bn.
Total tax revenue reached N3.79tn, while MDAs generated N1.36tn, resulting in a combined 2025 IGR of N5.149tn.
