Nigerians paid 63% more in road taxes to state governments in 2023, totaling N40.14 billion, according to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
This increase shows how important road taxes have become for state finances, though the Federal Capital Territory did not collect any road tax revenue in 2023.
The NBS’s Internally Generated Revenue report shows that road taxes collected nationwide rose from N24.57 billion in 2022 to N40.14 billion in 2023. Leading the states in road tax revenue was Lagos, which collected N16.74 billion in 2023. Despite not collecting road taxes in 2022, Lagos contributed 41.7% of the national road tax revenue last year.
Ebonyi State recorded the highest growth, with a 3,804.32% jump from N72.95 million in 2022 to N2.85 billion in 2023. Other states also saw major increases. Rivers State’s road tax collections rose 270.66%, reaching N830.01 million, up from N223.93 million the previous year. Sokoto State collected N194.66 million, a 41.22% increase, while Yobe State’s road tax grew by 30.4% to N81.88 million.
However, some states saw big drops in road tax collections. Enugu State recorded a 95.12% decrease, from N1.1 billion to just N53.47 million, while Katsina State’s revenue fell 79.34% to N29.3 million from N141.81 million. Niger State’s collections dropped by 53.41% to N190.49 million, and Cross River saw a 62.54% decline, from N3.26 billion to N1.22 billion.
