The Kaduna State Government says it generated about ₦220 billion in tax revenue between 2023 and 2025, with the Commissioner for Finance, Mohammed Ibrahim Tanko, attributing the performance largely to sustained dialogue and engagement with taxpayers.
Tanko disclosed the figure on Tuesday while representing Governor Uba Sani at the North-West Zonal Stakeholders’ Engagement Meeting on “Promoting Fairness in Tax and Revenue Administration”, organised by the Office of the Tax Ombud in Kaduna.
According to the commissioner, the North-West geopolitical zone generated about ₦916 billion in tax revenue during the three-year period, with Kaduna accounting for approximately ₦220 billion.
Tanko said the state achieved the revenue figure without what he described as unnecessary or excessive enforcement against taxpayers. Instead, he attributed the increase to discussions with businesses, taxpayers and other stakeholders, which he said helped encourage voluntary compliance.
He argued that the Kaduna experience demonstrated that governments could improve revenue collection by building trust and maintaining engagement with taxpayers rather than relying primarily on enforcement.
The commissioner also called on the Office of the Tax Ombud to establish a zonal office in Kaduna. He said having the institution permanently represented in the state would strengthen communication among government agencies, businesses, professionals and taxpayers across the North-West.
Tanko further said the state government had changed the way internally generated revenue was deployed, with greater emphasis placed on infrastructure and other development projects. He said taxpayers were more likely to support tax payment when they could see tangible benefits from the revenue collected.
The commissioner explained that the administration decided to direct more revenue towards infrastructure rather than using it primarily to meet recurrent obligations, including the payment of civil servants.
His comments came during a stakeholder meeting focused on fairness in tax and revenue administration, where the Tax Ombud also emphasised the importance of balancing taxpayers’ obligations with their rights.
The Chief Executive of the Office of the Tax Ombud, Dr John Nwabueze, said the institution was created as an independent and impartial body for addressing complaints concerning taxes, levies, regulatory fees and charges, customs, excise and other related matters.
Nwabueze said the office had introduced a digital complaint portal, case management system and toll-free call centre to make it easier for taxpayers to seek redress. He also stressed that the Tax Ombud could not be used to cancel legitimate tax obligations or encourage non-compliance.
The Acting Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service, Dr Mohammed Lawal, said the Tax Ombud had provided an alternative channel for resolving disagreements between taxpayers and revenue authorities. He said disputes previously often resulted either in enforcement or litigation because there were limited mechanisms for resolving disagreements outside those options.
Kaduna’s reported ₦220 billion therefore forms part of a broader discussion about how states can increase internally generated revenue while maintaining public trust and encouraging compliance.
However, the commissioner’s attribution of the revenue performance to dialogue remains an assessment by the state government. The reported figure does not, by itself, establish how much of the increase was directly caused by stakeholder engagement as opposed to other factors such as changes in the tax base, digitalisation, enforcement, economic activity or administrative reforms.
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