Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, says tax reforms introduced by the Federal Government have strengthened revenue generation, with Nigeria recording N21.6 trillion in revenue in the first half of 2026.
Sani made the disclosure on Wednesday in Kaduna at the 160th meeting of the Joint Revenue Board, held under the theme, “One Year of Tax Reform: Assessing Progress and Addressing Challenges.”
The governor said the latest revenue figures reflected growing efforts to improve domestic revenue mobilisation and reduce the country’s dependence on other sources of funding.
He noted that Nigeria generated about N10.1 trillion in 2023, N21.6 trillion in 2024 and approximately N36.8 trillion in 2025.
According to him, revenue in the first six months of 2026 stood at about N21.6 trillion, representing a 49 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period of 2025.
Sani commended President Bola Tinubu for undertaking what he described as a politically difficult overhaul of the country’s tax system, including legislation that transformed the former Joint Tax Board into the Joint Revenue Board.
He said the reforms were necessary to replace a fragmented and complicated revenue system with one that could support economic growth while making compliance easier for taxpayers.
“The objective, therefore, should not simply be to collect more revenue. It should be to build a tax system in which compliance becomes easier, enforcement becomes more intelligent and voluntary participation becomes the norm rather than the exception,” the governor said.
Sani also praised the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zach Adedeji, for his role in implementing the reforms.
He described Adedeji’s contribution as extending beyond technical expertise to include efforts to make tax administration simpler, fairer and more predictable for taxpayers.
The governor further highlighted Kaduna’s own experience with revenue mobilisation, commending the immediate past Executive Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Jerry Adams, and his team for increasing the state’s monthly internally generated revenue from about N4 billion to N10 billion.
He said Kaduna had continued to invest in technology-based revenue collection, professionalise its revenue workforce and strengthen engagement with taxpayers.
Sani said the state’s approach was focused on expanding the tax base instead of repeatedly increasing pressure on existing taxpayers.
According to him, the reforms at both federal and state levels are expected to reduce overlapping taxes, deploy technology and electronic invoicing to limit revenue leakages, and improve the overall administration of taxation.
He stressed that increased revenue collection must be accompanied by greater public confidence in government.
“Sustainable taxation cannot rest on coercion alone. It must be founded on fairness, transparency, predictability and trust,” he said.
The governor argued that taxpayers were more likely to comply when they understood their obligations, could navigate the system easily and believed that public funds were being responsibly utilised.
Sani said the ultimate goal should be a revenue system based on mutual responsibility between government and taxpayers rather than fear.
He added that the institutional changes introduced through the tax reforms would be critical to building a broader, more efficient and sustainable revenue system capable of financing development from domestic resources.
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