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Cumulative States’ IGR Records Astronomical Leap – FIRS

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7 years ago

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The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says cumulative states’ internally generated revenues have experienced astronomical leap in recent years.
The Chairman of FIRS, Dr Babatunde Fowler, said this at the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) Annual National Peer Learning Event last Wednesday in Abuja.
Fowler, represented by the Executive Secretary, Joint Tax Board (JTB), also said that since the turn of the century, tax revenues collected by the FIRS had experienced a growth of over 500 per cent from about N400 billion to over N2 trillion by 2010.
“By 2017, FIRS collection has topped N4,027.9 trillion.
“In the similar vein, cumulative state IGR collections experienced astronomical leap of nearly 40,000 per cent from pre-1999 figures of just over N1 billion to over N400 billion in 2010.
“As at 2017, total state collections stood at N936.4 billion.
“Current year on year trends are looking quite bright in 2018 as FIRS half year collection of 2.52 billion already has a 41.9 per cent increase over the same period in 2017.
“Cumulative states 2018 half year on year growth topped 28.1 per cent with a collection of N581.95 billion as against the collection over the same period in 2017.’’
Fowler, however, said that as encouraging as those performances might sound, a lot was still required to be done.
He advised state commissioners of Finance to join forces with the state executive chairmen of their various revenue authorities to ensure that state governors adopted the political will to pursue human and institutional capacity building.
Fowler added that they should also encourage modernisation of tax administration in their states.
The Director-General of the NGF Secretariat, Asishana Okauru, said although the country’s economy was witnessing a recovery, recent economic development had posed new challenges to the management of both taxes and government spending.
Okauru, represented by the NGF Executive Director, Strategy and Research, Lateef Shittu, said the challenges stressed the need to urgently strengthen fiscal governance measures as regard the rules and procedures guiding government budgetary frameworks.
He said that in the light of the experience in recent times and the trend in the country’s social indicators, the event would be focused on the link between raising domestic revenues and development.
“Today’s event marks an important milestone for us at the NGF, as we continue to influence conversations on how best to raise the level of domestic revenue mobilisation in the country, he said.’’

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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1 day ago

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September 22, 2025

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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September 22, 2025

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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September 22, 2025

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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