Kaduna State has maintained its position as the leading Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, performer among the 19 northern states for the past two years, following Governor Uba Sani’s tax reforms.
The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service, KADIRS, in a statement issued yesterday, dismissed reports of a decline in IGR under the current administration.
Highlighting the state’s revenue achievements, KADIRS said, “As a validation of the reforms in the revenue sector under Governor Uba Sani, Kaduna State generated IGR of N62.48 billion in 2023 and N71 billion in 2024, securing its position as the top IGR-performing state in northern Nigeria for the last two years.”
The statement revealed that Kaduna State collected N7.46 billion and N6.68 billion in IGR for January and February 2025, respectively, bringing the total to N14.16 billion within two months.
Signed by the Head of Corporate Communication, Malam Zakari Muhammad, the statement emphasized that IGR records for all states are publicly available.
According to Malam Zakari, Governor Sani’s administration has introduced various reforms to enhance tax collection and simplify payment processes.
These include the launch of an integrated tax administration portal (PAYKADUNA), financial inclusion initiatives, and increased engagement with taxpayers and stakeholders.
According to the statement, KADIRS has also deployed “the first-of-its-kind interactive voice response system for taxpayer complains redressal among several initiatives that have resulted in improved tax administration in the state.’’
The head of corporate communication expatiated on the current automation process of tax collection, explaining that ‘’payments are made through the PAYKADUNA portal or via pay direct channels from which they are swept directly into the State’s Treasury Single Accounts.’’
According to the statement, this process ensures that staff of the Service have no access or interaction with tax collections.
‘’The IGR account is a collection and transit account and not an expenditure account therefore, it is highly inaccurate to think that any amounts can be withdrawn from it to service any interests,’’ it explained.
The statement noted that ‘’the current level of IGR collection of the state speaks to the competence of the Chairman, the management team of the Service and the support they enjoy from the state to function as a professional and apolitical revenue authority of the state.’’
Malam Zakari also debunked the rumour that the former Executive Chairman was removed for calling out the Speaker for refusing to pay taxes, explaining that he had served ‘’his entire four-year tenure as provided in the Kaduna State Tax Codification and Consolidation Law, after which a new Executive Chairman was appointed by the Executive Governor.’’
The statement further said that that KADIRS has never received any instructions to facilitate the payment of N100 million, or any payment for that matter, to either an individual or organization.
The statement reminded that KADIRS ‘’is an autonomous agency of Kaduna State and remains committed to its mandate of facilitating seamless and efficient revenue mobilization for service delivery, without fear or favour to any individual or group.’’
