* Targets N870bn in 2026

* Tax revenue accounts for 12.6% IGR, non-tax 87.4%

Enugu State Government has announced a quantum leap in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), growing it by 1,464 per cent, from a miserly N26 billion in May 2023 to an unprecedented N406.77 billion in 2025. This was disclosed by Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS).

Of the total amount, tax revenue accounted for N51.5 billion, representing 12.6 per cent, while non-tax revenue stood at N355.2 billion, representing 87.4 per cent of the total IGR.

The government recalled that although the state’s IGR stood at N26.8 billion in 2022, it was able to scale it up to N37.4 billion in 2023 following Governor Peter Mbah’s ascension to office. It ramped it up further to N180.5 billion in 2024, before hitting N406.7 billion in 2025.

Chairman of ESIRS, Mr. Emmanuel Nnamani, who announced the IGR leap during a press briefing in Enugu yesterday, attributed the steady astronomic growth to deployment of technology, e-payment, widening of the tax net without increasing the rate, as well as other extensive reforms by the Mbah administration to block revenue leakages.

Nnamani stated, “The state’s total IGR of Enugu State in 2022 was N26.8 billion made up of N16.2 billion tax revenue and N10.6 billion non-tax revenue.

“In 2023, we pushed the IGR to N37.4 billion, made up of N22.9 billion tax revenue and N14.5 billion non-tax revenue.

“In 2024, we moved the IGR to N180.5 billion made up of N30 billion tax revenue and N150 billion non-tax revenue. At that point, Enugu State had started thinking differently and dependence on FAAC for every government activity had drastically reduced.

“The shift from tax revenue-driven funding had happened as at 2024, as Enugu State focused on natural resources, recovery, and revival of moribund assets to move our revenue into stability.”

The ESIRS chairman added, “Enugu State collected a total IGR of N406,774,321,758.87 out of the N509,947,000,000 projected in the 2025 Appropriation Law. This represents a performance of 80 per cent from budget perspective as well as a 125 per cent IGR growth from 2024 figure of N180.5 billion.

“It is also a revenue performance that has shown that Enugu State has developed fiscal resilience and sustainability.”

He also said, “It is important to state clearly that out of this N406.7 billion IGR, tax revenue is just N51.5 billion, representing 12.6 per cent of the total IGR in 2025, while non-tax revenue is N355.2 billion, representing 87.4 per cent of the total IGR.

“As I stated earlier, most of our non-tax revenue is driven by recovery, revitalisation, and optimisation of state assets, many of which were hitherto moribund and fallow assets.”

He expressed optimism over the tax revenue growth, explaining that the state’s huge investments in infrastructure would attract more residents and businesses, which would not only pay taxes, but also create taxable employments.

Nnamani explained, “If you look at the trend, you would see a conscious effort to grow the tax revenue of Enugu State. Just in 2025, the tax revenue grew from N30 billion in 2024 to N51.5 billion in 2025, which represents 72 per cent growth year-on-year. It also shows resilience in growth, outperforming tax revenue growth of 31 per cent in 2024.

“This is imperative because tax revenue is most sustainable for any national and subnational government. This is the reason we have intensified efforts to grow it in line with the provisions of tax laws.”

He said, “What we have done with tax revenue and by extension the non-tax revenue, is like fees, levies, and assets, is to plug the leakages in revenues, introducing technology to ensure traceability, accountability and transparency.

“So, 2026 is another year to watch out for Enugu State. Projected IGR is N870 billion and tax revenue is expected to dwindle as we implement a pro-citizen tax reform. However, we are very optimistic that we will beat economic expectations in tax revenue as compliance with tax laws has gone up in Enugu State.”

According to Nnamani, “The feedback we get from our people and businesses daily is that they are now encouraged to pay their tax and fulfill their other financial obligations to the government by the fact that they see the transformations going on in every sector of the state under the present administration – the infrastructure.

“There are the 260 Smart Green Schools and the 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centre spread across the 260 electoral wards, the Enugu International Conference Centre (ICC), the ICC 5-Star Hotel, the Enugu International Hospital, the Enugu Air, the five modern bus terminals, the 100 CNG buses, and indeed the over 2,000 completed and ongoing projects across the state, just to name a few.”

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