A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS) indicates that Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) at the subnational
level decreased slightly between 2014 and 2015. Specifically, the report shows
that on the average, the IGR of all 36 states declined by 3.6 per cent from
N707.9 billion in 2014 to N683.6 billion in 20157. A further
disaggregation reveals that while IGR in 11 states improved in 2015 compared to
2014, IGR in 24 states were below their 2014 levels. As expected, Lagos state
generated the most IGR during the period. Given that domestic resource mobilization
is the most viable alternative to complement the shortfalls (driven by lower
oil prices) in budgetary allocations to states from the federal government,
state governments need to do more to improve the effectiveness and efficiency
of revenue collection.