Lagos drives states’ N114bn road tax haul as collections rebound

Lagos accounted for nearly a third of the N113.94bn collected by Nigeria’s 36 states from road taxes between 2023 and 2025, despite the absence of the state’s 2024 figure from the latest data.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that states generated N40.14bn in road taxes in 2023, N23.92bn in 2024 and N49.88bn in 2025.

The three-year total was based on state-level Internally Generated Revenue data contained in the NBS’ Internally Generated Revenue at State Level 2025 report.

Lagos recorded N16.74bn in 2023 and N16.87bn in 2025, giving it a combined N33.61bn for the two years. That represents about 29.5 per cent of the total road tax revenue reported by the states over the three-year period.

The NBS defines road tax as daily levies paid by commercial transport operators working within states.

The figures showed a sharp drop in aggregate collections in 2024, when states reported N23.92bn, down 40.4 per cent from the previous year.

However, the decline was partly influenced by the absence of Lagos’ 2024 road tax figure. The state alone collected more than N16bn in both 2023 and 2025.

Road tax collections rebounded strongly in 2025, rising to N49.88bn, an increase of N25.96bn, or 108.5 per cent, from the previous year’s reported figure.

Beyond Lagos, Delta recorded the highest cumulative road tax revenue, generating N8.64bn during the period.

Delta’s collections rose consistently from N2.60bn in 2023 to N2.71bn in 2024 and N3.33bn in 2025.

Ondo followed with N5.99bn, while Ogun, Edo and Cross River recorded N5.49bn, N5.32bn and N5.28bn, respectively.

The 2025 figures also showed significant increases in several states.

Bauchi’s road tax revenue jumped from N413.51m in 2024 to N1.89bn in 2025, representing a 357.3 per cent increase.

Nasarawa recorded a similar rise, with collections increasing from N226.10m to N1.03bn, while Kogi’s revenue rose by 124.8 per cent from N727.84m to N1.64bn.

Ebonyi also more than doubled its collections, from N249.35m in 2024 to N533.43m in 2025.

Ondo’s revenue increased from N1.73bn to N2.67bn, while Gombe’s rose from N221.97m to N411.33m.

However, several states recorded declines.

Kebbi posted the steepest fall, with road tax revenue dropping by 73.5 per cent from N247.35m in 2024 to N65.49m in 2025.

Katsina’s collections fell by 54.9 per cent from N106.03m to N47.78m, while Sokoto recorded a 49.1 per cent decline from N165.04m to N84.09m.

Bayelsa also recorded a year-on-year decline, with revenue falling from N146.60m in 2023 to N102.18m in 2024 and N70.92m in 2025.

For the three-year period, Katsina recorded the lowest cumulative road tax revenue at N183.10m, followed by Yobe with N309.04m and Bayelsa with N319.70m.

The road tax collections formed part of the wider internally generated revenue of states.

According to the NBS, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory generated N5.15tn in IGR in 2025, up 40.9 per cent from N3.65tn recorded in 2024.

Tax revenue accounted for 73.64 per cent of the 2025 IGR.

The NBS noted that the figures remained subject to reconciliation and updates by state revenue authorities.

The data also comes against the backdrop of Federal Government efforts to reform tax collection and curb informal revenue practices.

In March 2026, the Federal Government announced a ban on cash tax collection and the use of roadblocks for tax enforcement under regulations guiding the implementation of new tax laws.

The Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Olusegun Adesokan, said the measures were intended to eliminate informal and coercive tax collection practices at the sub-national level.

The Joint Revenue Board subsequently announced a partnership with the Nigeria Police Force to tackle illegal tax collection and dismantle roadblocks erected for revenue collection.