By Yinka Kolawole
The Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) has warned that the decline in manufacturing tax revenue in the first quarter of 2026 reflects weakening industrial activity, urging the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement far-reaching reforms to revive the productive sector.
In a policy brief, Chairman of AERE, Dele Oye, acknowledged the Bank of Industry’s (BoI) record N644.9 billion loan disbursement in 2025 but argued that the intervention, though commendable, is inadequate to transform Nigeria’s manufacturing sector.
The manufacturing sector recorded a 31 per cent year-on-year decline in Company Income Tax (CIT) revenue to N74.48 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26) compared to N107.90 billion in the corresponding period of 2025 (Q1’25), and N141.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025 Q4’25), reflecting the impact of rising production costs and weakening profit margins.
He praised BoI for supporting 1.68 million jobs and financing projects across 14 strategic sectors, describing the bank’s maiden Development Impact Report as a landmark shift from measuring success by loan volumes to assessing development impact.
