By Emmanuel Daniji

For Lagos, the numbers tell a story of a state with a much larger revenue base than most of its counterparts across Nigeria.

Lagos State generated ₦1.77 trillion in internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2025, more than the combined ₦909.35 billion generated by 22 other states, according to the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The figures highlight the huge difference in the ability of states to raise money internally to support their governments and public services.

Across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, total IGR stood at ₦5.15 trillion in 2025, representing a 40.93 per cent increase from the ₦3.65 trillion recorded in 2024.

Lagos alone accounted for about 34.4 per cent of the combined revenue, with its ₦1.77 trillion putting it far ahead of the other states.

Rivers followed with ₦428.42 billion, while Enugu recorded ₦406.77 billion. The Federal Capital Territory generated ₦356.34 billion, followed by Ogun with ₦252.36 billion. Delta recorded ₦202.49 billion, Edo ₦132.21 billion, Oyo ₦103.25 billion, Kano ₦102.26 billion and Akwa Ibom ₦100.80 billion.

At the other end of the table, Yobe recorded the lowest IGR at ₦16.01 billion. Ebonyi followed with ₦17.18 billion, while Sokoto generated ₦20.48 billion.

The national figures also show how heavily states depend on taxation to raise revenue.

Of the ₦5.15 trillion generated in 2025, ₦3.79 trillion, representing 73.64 per cent, came from tax revenue. Another ₦1.36 trillion came from revenues generated by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax was the biggest component of tax revenue, generating ₦2.64 trillion, or 69.51 per cent of total tax revenue. Withholding tax contributed ₦503.46 billion, while other taxes accounted for ₦300.21 billion.

The report also recorded ₦112.65 billion from direct assessment, ₦111.57 billion from stamp duties, ₦49.88 billion from road taxes and ₦12.40 billion from capital gains tax.

For Lagos, taxation remained the dominant source of revenue. The state generated approximately ₦1.48 trillion from taxes, while its MDAs contributed ₦292.64 billion.

The figures also show that states do not all generate their revenues in the same way. While Rivers recorded ₦414.38 billion in tax revenue out of its ₦428.42 billion total, the NBS report noted that a significant portion of Enugu’s revenue came from MDAs.

Overall, the 2025 data provides a state-by-state picture of how much revenue governments were able to raise internally from taxation and other sources, with Lagos standing out for the scale of its internally generated revenue.