Lagos state generated N815.86 as internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2023, almost doubling the N486.9 billion generated by the 19 northern states.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on IGR at the State Level for 2023, released Tuesday, revealed this.
This development further revealed the deepened economic disparity between the northern states and Lagos, the country’s economic capital.
The official data was released at a time when almost the entire northern states were in total blackout for the 10th consecutive day due to electricity towers collapse.
President Bola Tinubu after meeting with NSA Nuhu Ribadu and Minister of Power Adebayo Adelabu on Monday, pledged to restore power to the 19 states in the next five days.
The latest figures also underscore the parasitic nature of the sub-nationals who rely heavily on federal allocations to service their over-bloated civil service and other recurrent expenditures with no bearing on the commonwealth of their people.
The IGR’s new figures show that the 36 states and the FCT generated a total of N2.24 trillion last year.
A zonal breakdown of the 2023 IGR data further shows that the South West — ₦1.12 trillion, South-South — ₦468.74 billion, North Central — ₦387.65 billion, North West — ₦206.22 billion, South East — ₦142.95 billion, and North East — ₦104.35 billion.
The leading states in total IGR in 2023 were Lagos – N815.86 billion, FCT – N211.10 billion and Rivers – N195.41 billion.
The report further explained that the three least performing states are Taraba – N10.87 billion, Yobe — N11.19 billion and Kebbi – N11.74 billion,
The 2023 IGR grew by 26.03 percent when compared to the N1.93 trillion recorded in 2022.
The last year’s IGR had two major revenue sources – taxes and Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)’s revenue.
The NBS said tax sub-categories recorded in the period are Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Direct Assessment, Road taxes, Stamp duties, Capital gain tax, Withholding taxes, Other taxes and LGAs revenue.
The report said PAYE was the most contributing revenue source in 2023 at N1.24 trillion which represented a 63.83 per cent share of the total taxes collected nationwide.
The bureau said capital gains tax generated the least in 2023 with N5.91 billion.
The report said total taxes to total IGR stood at about 80 percent nationally.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to capture new data.
