Based on the Q4 and full-year 2020 IGR data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), declined by 2% y/y to N1.31trn in 2020 from N1.33trn in 2019.
This performance reflects the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused significant macroeconomic headwinds especially in the first half (H1) of the year. To put it in context, the total IGR as of H1 2020 declined by 9% to N632.26bn from N693.91bn in H1 2019. The poor H1 performance outweighed the positive growth of 6% y/y to N673.82bn recorded in H2 2020 from N637.82bn in H2 2019, thus resulting in negative growth of 2% y/y for FY 2020.
Further analysis of the data revealed that save for Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Taxes which showed moderate growth (+5% y/y), other components of the IGR declined in 2020; Direct Assessment (-22.2% y/y), Road Taxes (-6% y/y), Other Taxes (-24% y/y) and MDAs Revenue (-1% y/y).
We think the decline in Direct Assessment reflects the low-income level of self-employed individuals and informal businesses arising from reduced work activities and tough business conditions. Similarly, restricted vehicular movements both within and out of states, closure of markets, malls, recreational centres and limited running of revenue-generating MDAs especially during the second quarter (Q2) contributed to the fall recorded across the remaining key constituents of the total IGR of all states including the FCT.
Despite the complete shutdown of Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja in Q2 2020, Lagos State remained the leader in revenue generation with an IGR of N418.99bn (equivalent to 32.1% of total IGR), followed by Rivers with N117.19bn (9.0%), FCT with N92.06bn (7.1%) and Delta with N59.73bn (4.6%). On the other hand, Taraba with N8.14bn (1.9%), Adamawa with N8.33bn (0.6%) and Yobe State with N7.78bn (0.6%) recorded the least IGR.
Worth noting is that while most states have continued to rely heavily on FAAC allocation to meet budgetary commitments, Lagos (78%) and Ogun (57%) states including the FCT (57%) had the most healthy composition of IGR revenue to its respective total revenue in 2020. The vast economic activities in Lagos and Ogun states, an offshoot of their positioning as a good spot for import and export of materials and finished products, enable a good flow of commercial activities.
Many states continue to rely solely on FAAC allocations from the Federal Government which are totally dependent on dwindling oil revenues. State governments need to come up with innovative ideas to improve IGR and also create an enabling business environment to attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to avoid the current situation where many states cannot as much pay salaries when oil receipts begin to fall.
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