{"id":6171,"date":"2026-05-25T10:19:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stakebridgeirpr.com\/media\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2026-05-25T10:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T10:19:24","slug":"oyedele-flags-state-tax-leakages-amid-nrs-n40trn-revenue-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stakebridgeirpr.com\/media\/oyedele-flags-state-tax-leakages-amid-nrs-n40trn-revenue-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"Oyedele Flags State Tax Leakages Amid NRS N40trn Revenue Drive"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kingsley Ani<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, recently in Abuja accused some state governments and Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs) of failing to deduct and remit Value Added Tax (VAT) and Withholding Tax as required under Nigeria\u2019s tax laws. He described the trend as a structural threat to fiscal fairness and voluntary compliance. Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Mr. Tolu Adegbile, at the National Workshop on Strengthening Tax Compliance Under the New Tax Regime organised by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Oyedele said that the federal government had uncovered persistent leakages weakening tax administration and distorting fiscal federalism.<\/p>\n

Executive Chairman of the NRS, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, represented by Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services Directorate, Mr. Muhammad Abubakar Lawal, disclosed that the agency faces a N40 trillion tax revenue target in 2026, warning that uneven compliance among states and public institutions threatens institutional credibility and revenue sustainability. Executive Director, Large Taxpayer and Government Directorate, Madam Amina Ado, added that field audits revealed delayed remittances and weak compliance structures among some sub-national entities and public institutions.<\/p>\n

DECISION HIGHLIGHT<\/strong>
\nThe NRS plans to intensify technology-driven tax administration, strengthen remittance monitoring, expand voluntary compliance frameworks, and introduce a national ranking system recognising the most tax-compliant states from 2026. Authorities also signalled stronger enforcement powers under the new tax regime while publicly prioritising collaborative compliance over punitive enforcement.<\/p>\n

DECISION MEMO <\/strong>
\nThe federal government\u2019s intervention signals a deeper recalibration of Nigeria\u2019s fiscal architecture rather than a routine compliance warning. The emphasis on VAT and Withholding Tax leakages indicates concern within the fiscal authorities that revenue instability is no longer driven only by weak economic activity or oil volatility, but increasingly by institutional non-compliance within government structures themselves.<\/p>\n

Oyedele\u2019s framing of tax as \u201cthe social contract in action\u201d reflects an attempt to reposition taxation from an extraction mechanism into a legitimacy instrument for public finance. However, the stronger subtext is fiscal centralisation through data visibility, technology deployment, and remittance traceability. The new tax regime appears designed to reduce discretionary leakages across Ministries, Departments and Agencies- (MDAs), GOEs), and sub-national governments that historically retained delayed remittances without immediate detection.<\/p>\n

The NRS\u2019s N40 trillion target substantially raises the pressure on internal government revenue mobilisation. In that context, states and public institutions are no longer merely beneficiaries of federation allocations; they are being repositioned as measurable compliance actors within the national revenue ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Adedeji\u2019s proposed \u201ctax-compliant states\u201d ranking introduces reputational competition into fiscal governance. While presented as a collaborative mechanism, it effectively creates a soft-performance index capable of exposing structurally weak states without immediate confrontation.<\/p>\n

The broader implication is that Nigeria\u2019s tax reforms are shifting from legislative redesign into operational enforcement. The next phase is likely to focus less on announcing reforms and more on tracking remittance behaviour across public institutions in real time.<\/p>\n

DATA BOX<\/strong><\/p>\n