The declining oil receipt by the federation has seen a gradual decline in federally allocated revenue to sub-nationals, forcing the federating units to put on their thinking caps, to explore previously neglected areas with huge potential to turn the tide.
A realisation of this potential has seen some states re-engineer the architecture for the collection of internally generated revenue and their efforts have been obvious by the result they now have churning out.
Lagos, Rivers, FCT, and Ogun have individually earned more through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) than the South East and North East in 2022, data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.
The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service recently disclosed that it generated about N203bn in 2023, representing a 63% increase from the N124bn it generated in 2022.
The acting chairman of the FCT-IRS, Haruna Abdullahi, disclosed that the service hoped to generate about N250bn in 2024.
Abdullahi, in an earlier interview with Daily Trust, said the revenue tax collection of the FCT had grown from barely N46bn in 2017, to N124bn in 2022, representing an over 270% increase, adding that the service was optimistic that it could generate N250bn with the support of staff of the FCTA, the National Assembly and other key stakeholders.
The acting chairman explained that the taxpayer base of the FCT had grown from 543,969 individuals and 284,746 non-individuals in 2015 to 1,108,162 individuals, and 389,981 non-individuals in 2023.
What IGR data tells us about states and the FCT
Daily Trust findings reveal that 31 states in Nigeria relied more on the federal government's allocation for survival than the revenue they generated in 2022.
According to data evaluating the federal government's allocations and the internally generated revenue (IGR), by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared to the states N3.24 trillion, while the IGR generated by the states, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), stood at N1.93 trillion.
This puts the total revenue received at N5.17 trillion in 2022.
According to data from NBS, in 2022, Lagos State, Rivers State and the FCT generated the highest revenue with N651.15 billion, N172.82 billion and N124.37 billion, respectively, while, the lowest three performing states during the year were Kebbi, Taraba and Yobe, with values of N9.15 billion, N10.24 billion and N10.46 billion respectively.
However, a closer check of the FAAC data showed that only six states relied on their internal revenue and federal government allocations. The states are Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and the FCT.
Daily Trust analysis filtered the reliance on the government allocation by 60 per cent and IGR by 40 per cent, which indicated that Lagos had an IGR to FAAC ratio of 80 to 20; Ogun, 74 to 26, FCT 60 to 40, Oyo 46 to 54, Kaduna and Kwara, 45 to 55 respectively.
Meanwhile, of the six states, only Lagos, Ogun, and the FCT depended more on their revenue than the federal government allocation. This means that the amount generated as revenue was higher than what was received from the government.
FCT deploys E-portal to ramp up collection
The FCT-Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) last week announced the official unveiling of its cutting-edge E-portal that will help bridge the gap between tradition and modernity in tax administration.
During the unveiling ceremony, the Ag. Executive Chairman of FCT-IRS, Mr. Haruna Y Abdullahi, who was represented by the Acting Director Tax, FCT-IRS, Mrs Chinwe Anohu-Ndu, highlighted the importance of the E-portal initiative.
She said; "We are thrilled to introduce the FCT-IRS E-portal, a transformative platform that will revolutionize the way taxpayers interact with our service. This portal represents our dedication to leveraging technology to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility in tax processes. By bridging the gap between tradition and modernity, we are taking a significant step towards a more streamlined and customer-centric tax administration."
He added that the FCT-IRS E-portal is set to empower taxpayers with convenient access to online services, streamlined tax filing processes, and real-time updates on tax matters.
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Abdullahi emphasized that the digital platform aims to enhance the overall taxpayer experience and facilitate seamless communication between taxpayers and the tax authority.
Championing the unveiling of the E-Portal was the Head of ICT, FCT-IRS Mr James Olukotun, who described the E-portal as an "artwork" with a philosophy to eliminate the gap between tradition and modernity.
He reiterated that the portal serves as a platform for services not particularly mentioned as a module in tax administration such as registration, assessment, and TCC amongst others.
Commenting on the safety of the portal, James said it had been extensively secured in order to prevent illegal and unauthorized access.
He pointed out that the FCT-IRS Assessment Module is arguably one of our best modules, adding that the system is compliant with the latest Finance Act to access taxpayers.
In his words "Just like every other software, there will be subsequent updates to the E-Portal so as to guarantee utmost functionality."
