The indication that state governments in the country are looking inwards to increase their internally generated revenue (IGR) was amplified with the release of the IGR profiles of states by the nation’s statistical agency, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
Total IGR generated by 36 states and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, according to NBS for the first six months of the year stood at N579.49 billion from N453.83 billion reported in the comparable period in 2017, representing an increase of 27.7 percent.
Twenty-eight states recorded growth in IGR while eight states which include Abia, Anambra, Benue, Taraba, Kebbi, Kwara, Ebonyi and Enugu recorded a decline at the end of 2018 half year.
The net FAAC allocation in half year 2018 is put at N1.23 trillion while the total revenue available to the states is put at N1.74 trillion.
However, the value of foreign debt stands at $4.22 billion while domestic debt hits N3.38 trillion at the end of 2018 half year.
A breakdown of the figures released shows that Lagos State led other states when it recorded a total of N198.395 billion in second quarter of 2018 from N168.025 billion recorded in 2017, an indication of 16.88 percent increase.
Imo posted 65.86 percent increase from N4.227 billion in the second quarter of 2017 to N7.012 billion while Katsina State recorded 25 percent improvement when it recorded N3.486 billion from N2.782 billion in 2017.
Kano State recorded an IGR of N18.554 billion in the period under review from N11.107 billion, while Abia State’s IGR went down from N7.954 billion to N6.977 billion.
The herdsmen crisis that engulfed Benue State for the better part of the first and second quarters of the year seems to have its toll on the performance of the state from generating revenue when its IGR went down by 18.96 percent from N7.472 billion to N6.063 billion.
In a related development, Bauchi State has set a 2018 record in its internally generated revenue (IGR) which hit N7.04 billion in just nine months.
Tunde Fowler, executive chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), made this known at the 142nd meeting of the Joint Tax Board (JTB) in Bauchi.
Fowler, who is also the chairman of the JTB, said the state’s growth rate went up by 10.01 percent in the third quarter of 2018, placing it top 10 nationwide and number one in the North-East.
“You may wish to note that Bauchi State is actually one of the success stories when matters of IGR are discussed, both at the regional and at the national levels,” Fowler said.
“Computation of IGR collection for Bauchi State for the nine-month period January to September 2018 hit N7.04 billion. This figure has already outperformed the full year 2017 IGR figure of N4.36 billion with a percentage margin of 61.2 percent.
“Average quarterly growth rates for Bauchi as at Q3 2018 is 10.01 percent, which places it among the top ten highest average quarterly growth rates nationwide for the period.
“At the regional level, Bauchi State is actually setting a healthy pace for the region as her 9-month collection in 2018 is just over 26 percent of the entire IGR collected by the six states within the region.”
Fowler said an ongoing database consolidation of the JTB, an initiative being executed in collaboration with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) projects that Nigeria’s taxpayer population will exceed 33 million.
He noted that “significant investments via the provision of required infrastructure, equipment and capacity building for personnel” will be put into the initiative, thus opening the door to immense opportunities for the tax administrators at all levels.
