Kaduna leading the North In IGR -Revenue agency

From:Femi Oyelola Kaduna

The  Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service(KADIRS) has declared that the state has been the leading Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) performing subnational amongst the 19 northern states in the last two years,  owing to Governor Uba Sani’s tax reforms.

 KADIRS which disclosed this in a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communication, Malam Zakari Jamilu Muhammad, and issues on Friday, was reacting to the claim that suggests a decline in IGR under the present administration.

 It  noted that records of state IGR collections are in the public domain.

‘’As a validation of the reforms in the revenue sector of the state under Governor Uba Sani, in 2023 and 2024, Kaduna State collected IGR of N62.48 billion and N71 billion respectively, consolidating its place as the leading IGR performing state in northern Nigeria in the last two years.

 ‘’Furthermore, in January and February 2025, Kaduna State has already collected an IGR of ₦7.46 billion and ₦6.68 billion respectively, bringing the total revenue collected in two months to ₦14.16 billion,’’ the statement disclosed.

Malam Zakari explained that   Governor Uba Sani  has introduced a series of  reforms that have improved tax collection and made tax payment easy, including  ‘’ an integrated tax administration portal (PAYKADUNA), financial inclusion initiatives, enhanced taxpayers and stakeholders’ engagement.’’

According to the statement, KADIRS has also deployed  “the first-of-its-kind interactive voice response system for taxpayer complaints redressal among several initiatives that have resulted in improved tax administration in the state.

“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.”

 He opined that this process ensures that staff of the Service have no access to 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and transit account and not an expenditure account therefore, it is highly inaccurate to think that any amounts can be withdrawn from it to service any interests.

‘’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”, the settlement added.

 Zakari also debunked the rumor 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 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.

 It reiterated 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 favor to any individual or group.’’