Thirty-five Nigerian states generated N2.43tn in Internally Generated Revenue in the first half of 2026, a 34 per cent increase from the N1.815tn recorded by the same states in the corresponding period of 2024.
Rivers State was excluded from the comparison, while comparable January-to-June 2025 figures were unavailable for several states.
The revenue increase coincided with higher Federation Account allocations and additional funds accruing to the states following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
The 36 states received N4.54tn from the Federation Account between January and June 2026, up from N3.61tn in the same period of 2025, representing a 25.77 per cent increase.
Eleven oil-producing states also shared N321.90bn under the 13 per cent derivation arrangement, with Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom taking N242.63bn, or 75.4 per cent.
The stronger revenue position has heightened scrutiny of state spending as households continue to face elevated living costs.
The World Bank’s April 2026 Nigeria Development Update estimated that 63 per cent of Nigerians lived below the national poverty line in 2025, compared with 61 per cent in 2024 and 56 per cent in 2023. About 140 million people were affected.
The fiscal debate has also focused on resources generated after President Bola Tinubu ended the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said in August 2026 that the reform generated N15.8tn for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025. States received N6.52tn, the Federal Government N5.43tn and local governments N3.88tn.
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The disclosure renewed calls for states and local governments to account for the funds and demonstrate their impact on citizens.
In October 2025, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project similarly urged governors to explain how increased revenues associated with subsidy reform were deployed.
Concerns over public spending have also been reinforced by BudgIT’s Tracka monitoring platform, which reported in February 2026 that projects worth about N24bn across several states were unexecuted, abandoned or fraudulently delivered.
Benue recorded the highest proportion of unexecuted projects at 40 per cent, followed by Ondo at 32.4 per cent, Kwara at 30.4 per cent, Akwa Ibom at 27.3 per cent and Sokoto at 25.6 per cent.
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, urged states to direct additional revenue towards roads, healthcare, education, transport, agriculture, security, electricity and business support.
PwC Director of Deals Advisory, Wale Olusi, also called for investment in infrastructure and transport networks capable of connecting farming communities with urban markets.
Professor of International Economics, Jonathan Aremu, cautioned that higher nominal revenue did not necessarily translate into greater purchasing power, citing inflation, exchange-rate depreciation and rising costs.
He nevertheless said citizens should see tangible benefits from increased public resources.
With IGR and Federation Account receipts rising, the pressure on state governments is shifting from revenue mobilisation to effective deployment.
Analysts say the real dividend of the increase will be measured in productive investment, completed projects, jobs and improved public services, not simply bigger government revenues.