NBS: Enugu Records Lowest Tax Revenue-to-IGR Ratio

…Abia, FCT, Bayelsa top tax-heavy IGR states

Enugu State recorded the lowest tax revenue-to-Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) ratio in 2025, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), as reported by StatiSense.
Statistics published on StatiSense’s verified X handle showed that only N51.52 billion, representing 12.67 per cent of the N406.7 billion generated as IGR by Enugu State in 2025, came from tax revenues, while the remainder was derived from non-tax sources.
The development comes after the NBS earlier rated Enugu State as the state with the highest IGR growth among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), trailing only Lagos and Rivers states in terms of total IGR, in that order.
However, in terms of the tax component of IGR, Enugu recorded the lowest ratio, while Abia State topped the list, with 100 per cent of its N70.41 billion IGR in 2025 coming from taxes.
The FCT followed, with its entire N356.34 billion IGR for the year derived from tax revenues.
Bayelsa, Rivers and Sokoto completed the top five tax-dependent jurisdictions, with tax revenues accounting for 99.39 per cent, 96.72 per cent and 92.44 per cent of their respective IGRs.
Other states with relatively low tax dependence included Kwara, with 38.42 per cent; Katsina, 39.93 per cent; Osun, 41.53 per cent; and Ogun, 44.10 per cent.
Enugu’s low tax-to-IGR ratio comes amid public debate over the state’s revenue growth and allegations that the administration of Governor Peter Mbah has increased the tax burden on residents and businesses.
At a recent town hall meeting in Enugu, televised live by some national television stations, Mbah dismissed claims that his administration was overtaxing residents, attributing the narrative to opposition elements and beneficiaries of the corrupt practices and sharp revenue collection methods that prevailed before his administration introduced reforms and technology to curb revenue leakages.
The governor maintained that the state’s revenue growth was driven by innovation, economic diversification and the expansion of revenue sources rather than increased taxation.
He also argued that taxation was on the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution, maintaining that states could not independently legislate to increase or reduce taxes such as Personal Income Tax, Company Income Tax, Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax.
According to him, his administration had expanded the tax net to capture more people who had previously not paid taxes but had not increased tax rates.
“This is one falsehood that has been so peddled that it’s even beginning to take a semblance of a truth. Meanwhile, overtaxation does not exist, and I think those who think we may be taxing more are essentially looking at the sort of growth we have recorded in our IGR.
“Because they couldn’t have imagined such growth happening within the period it happened, they felt perhaps the only justification is that we have burdened the people of Enugu to realise that. But that’s far from the truth.
“So, what did we do to grow our IGR? First of all, we plugged all the leakages. We ensured that nobody makes payments in cash on behalf of the state government.
“But, importantly, we have so far activated a whole lot of our dormant assets. We now earn quite a lot from those assets, and we built new ones,” he stated.
Mbah listed the Hotel Presidential, Enugu United Palm Products Limited, Nigergas, Nike Lake and the International Conference Centre, among other previously moribund assets, as facilities his administration had recovered, completed or resuscitated before optimising them to generate revenue.
He also identified new revenue-generating assets, including Enugu Air, as evidence of the state’s efforts to diversify its revenue base, noting that tax revenues accounted for only a marginal share of its IGR.
The governor, however, said he expected the tax component of the state’s revenue to increase over time as economic activities expanded.
Mbah added that residents often mistook payments for government services, including the processing of Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) and refuse disposal services provided by the Enugu State Waste Management Authority (ESWAMA), for taxes. He said his administration had also consolidated many of the services and their associated costs.
“How much did we say they should pay? N36,000 annually for businesses. And that includes business premises and other rates and services. So, it’s N100 per day.
“We also had the complaints about people going to the market, I’m sure maybe from the local governments, to collect money. I made an announcement to stop that; that nobody should collect N100 or N200 from our market women,” he had explained.