Nigeria’s subnational fiscal structure has continued to reveal a weak revenue generation capacity, as few states generate a major part of the aggregate revenues annually, highlighting a major weakness in how most states fund themselves.
BusinessDay’s analysis of thestates’s budget implementation report, published by BudgIT, showed that the aggregate IGR generated by state governments increased from N1.565 trillion in 2022 to N4.147 trillion in 2025.
However, while the total revenue figure reflects a broad uptick in tax collection and digital compliance across the country, experts have stated that the revenue concentration in a single economic hub exposes a severe inability among most state governments to expand local tax bases and end their reliance on federal allocations.
According to the report, only Lagos State accounted for N1.845 trillion, which is 44.5 per cent of the total IGR recorded by reporting states (excluding Akwa Ibom and Rivers).
Ogun, Delta, and Enugu posted notable collections, at N238 billion, N206.44 billion and N406.77 billion,n respectively. Also, Oyo and Kano states followed with an IGR of N102 billion each.
