The internally generated revenue of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory rose to N5.15 trillion in 2025.
According to a report by TheCable referencing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the figure is N1.5 trillion higher than the N3.65 trillion recorded in 2024, which translates to a 41 percent growth in one year.
TheCable Index analysis of the NBS report showed that Pay-As-You-Earn tax remained the backbone of subnational revenue.
PAYE collections moved from N1.88 trillion in 2024 to N2.64 trillion in 2025. This means states earned N757.3 billion more from PAYE alone, representing a 40 percent increase.
The N2.64 trillion from PAYE accounted for 51 percent of the total N5.15 trillion IGR generated by all states and the FCT. When combined with revenue from Ministries, Departments and Agencies which stood at N1.36 trillion, up from N968.16 billion in 2024, both sources accounted for about 78 percent of total IGR.
The report cited by TheCable also gave a detailed breakdown of how states performed individually, highlighting the wide gap between top earners and states at the lower end of the revenue table. Lagos State maintained its dominance as the highest revenue generator with N1.77 trillion in 2025, representing about 34 percent of the total IGR of all 36 states and the FCT combined. This means Lagos alone generated more than one-third of all subnational IGR. It was followed by Rivers with N428.4 billion, Enugu with a surprisingly strong N406.8 billion to place third, the FCT with N356.3 billion and Ogun State with N252.4 billion to complete the top five.
On the other side, Yobe recorded the lowest IGR at N16 billion. Ebonyi followed with N17.2 billion, while Sokoto and Taraba posted N20.5 billion and N28.2 billion respectively.
The NBS data referenced by TheCable shows that while states have improved their capacity to generate revenue internally, reliance on PAYE remains heavy, with more than half of all IGR coming from income tax deducted from workers’ salaries.
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