The 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have improved their efforts to rake in more revenue internally as their total internally generated revenue (IGR) rose to N579.5 billion in the first half of this year, representing 27.7 percent growth over the N453.833 billion generated by them in the corresponding period of 2017.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated the positive development in its latest States’ Half Year 2018 Internally Generated Revenue report published on Tuesday.
According to the bureau, during the period under review, 28 states recorded growth in their IGR while eight states, namely Abia, Anambra, Benue, Taraba, Kebbi, Kwara, Ebonyi and Enugu, recorded drop in their IGR in the first quarter of 2018.
The report indicated that in the first and second quarters of the year, the states generated N280.835 billion and N263.343 billion respectively, with Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, FCT and Delta improving their IGR in the order of listing.
A further analysis of the states’ IGR profiles showed that Lagos State generated N196.395 billion, up by 16.88 percent from N168.025 billion in the first quarter of last year to top the list, while Rivers State, raked in N60.906 billion, representing an increase of 36.13 percent over the N44.742 billion it generated in Q1, 2017.
Ogun State came third with N42.519 billion IGR or 6.70 percent improvement over the N39.849 billion it collected internally in the corresponding period of 2017, while the FCT generated N35.311 billion and Delta State posted N29.797 billion in the review period, representing a growth of 17.80 percent over the N25.103 billion raked in the corresponding period of 2017.
When analysed based on revenue sources, the largest chunk of the states and the FCT’s collections came mainly from Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax, totalling N352.509 billion while their Direct Assessment collections stood at N26.293 billion during the review period.
In addition, the Road Taxes grossed N11.681 billion while the Other Taxes stood at N84.033 billion and revenues from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) was N104.972 billion.
