The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has set a revenue target of N40.7 trillion for 2026, reinforcing the Federal Government’s drive to boost non-oil collections, expand compliance, and strengthen enforcement as part of efforts to raise domestic revenue and limit new borrowing.
The target was unveiled at the NRS Management Retreat in Abuja on Tuesday.
The figure represents a 44% increase from the N28.29 trillion collected in 2025 and more than six times the N6.4 trillion recorded in 2021, highlighting the scale of Nigeria’s revenue expansion over the past five years.
What the NRS is saying
Speaking at the retreat, the Executive Director of Government and Large Taxpayers at the Nigeria Revenue Service, Amina Ado, said the 2026 target was built on the strong performance recorded in 2025, which she said was driven largely by internal reforms rather than inflationary pressures or exchange-rate movements.
According to her, the service exceeded its 2025 revenue target despite relative stability in the exchange rate during the year.
- “We were given a target of N25.2 trillion, and if we compare that with what we did in 2024, which was N21.7 trillion, at the end of last year we were able to deliver N28.23 trillion,” Ado said.
- “That is about 30% more than what we collected in 2024, and we achieved 112% of our target.”
She added that the improvement reflected operational changes within the service.
- “The results we saw last year were not really just about inflation and all that stuff; it was more about the improvements we have seen during the year and the actions we took that resulted in this,” she said.
Data presented at the retreat showed that NRS revenue rose from N6.4 trillion in 2021 to N10.18 trillion in 2022, N12.34 trillion in 2023, N21.7 trillion in 2024, and N28.29 trillion in 2025, with the N40.71 trillion target for 2026 reflecting expectations that the upward trend will continue.
Non-oil revenue to remain growth engine
Non-oil revenue is projected to remain the main driver of revenue growth in 2026, as the government seeks to reduce exposure to oil price volatility and production risks.
- “Our success was really driven by the non-oil collection, which we could impact by the actions we took during the year,” Ado said.
According to projections, non-oil revenue is expected to rise from about N18 trillion in 2025 to N24.84 trillion in 2026, representing an increase of nearly 38%, while oil-related revenue is projected to grow only marginally from about N7.2 trillion to N7.3 trillion.
Ado said Company Income Tax, Value Added Tax, and the Development Levy would anchor the non-oil expansion. She noted that VAT and CIT both exceeded their targets in 2025, while Capital Gains Tax recorded a one-off spike linked to divestments in the oil and gas sector.
She added that improved filing and payment compliance, stricter enforcement, internal restructuring, expanded withholding VAT, automation, and digitalisation were central to the stronger revenue performance.
Ado also said achieving the N40.7 trillion target would require automated petroleum tax and royalty assessments, more aggressive engagement with MDAs and sub-national governments, improved audit turnaround times, and deeper use of data from e-invoicing platforms and government contracts.
