The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently announced Lagos, Rivers, and the Federal Capital Territory as the most viable states with the highest internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2022.
One of the goals for a nation’s economy to improve is the presence of economic balance. Regional economic growth is positively impacted by regional investment and consumption. Thus, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) metric becomes important for investing in and starting new businesses.
Lagos (N651 billion), Rivers (N172 billion), and the Federal Capital Territory (N124 billion) produced the greatest IGR during the time under review, according to the report. Ogun and Delta, at N120 billion and N85 billion, respectively, rounded out the top five.
The IGR is significant because, aside from tax, it also shows how much each state spends on household consumption. Consequently, this helps investors make investment decisions. According to Harrod Domar’s theory of growth, an increase in public spending rather than a community’s ability to produce itself determines a community’s rise in production and growth. Thus, with the alleged increase in public spending in the South-South states of Rivers State and Delta State, significant productions are deemed to be taking shape.
Furthermore, the NBS report showed that the South-West zone recorded the greatest IGR turnover in 2023, with N908.25 billion, ahead of all other zones. The South-South zone came in second with N377.9 billion. With N246.4 billion, North-Central came in second, followed by North-West with N186.4 billion, South-East with N114.5 billion, and North-East Zone with N92 billion at the end of the year.
Subsequent examination of the statistics revealed that Lagos State produced 34% of all IGR in Nigeria and 72% of all IGR in the southwest.
The South-South must become a “high road” of (converging) growth based on rising production sophistication, assisted by regional trade and investment agreements, policy coordination, and infrastructural development.
