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The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has set an ambitious ₦40.7 trillion revenue target for 2026, following sweeping tax reforms that transferred petroleum royalties and other mineral revenues to the agency.
NRS Executive Chairman, Zach Adedeji, disclosed this on Wednesday when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations alongside members of President Bola Tinubu’s economic team.
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The session focused on the performance of the 2025 budget and projections for 2026.
2025 revenue
Mr Adedeji said the Service surpassed its 2025 revenue goal of ₦25.2 trillion, posting ₦28.23 trillion in collections, ₦3 trillion above target, representing a 12 per cent increase.
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He attributed the performance largely to strong non-oil tax receipts. According to him, non-oil taxes generated ₦21.46 trillion, exceeding projections by ₦3.4 trillion.
Oil tax revenue, however, fell short of its target by 5.2 per cent, he said.
Compared to 2024, the Service recorded an additional ₦6.5 trillion in revenue in 2025, a 30.3 per cent increase, again driven mainly by non-oil sources.
“When you compare 2025 performance to 2024, the Service collected N6.5 trillion, more than what we did in 2024. That is an increase of 30.3 per cent. This is driven significantly by non-oil taxes,” he said.
2026 projections
Looking ahead, Mr Adedeji said the Service is projecting ₦32.14 trillion in revenue for 2026, ₦3.85 trillion higher than the actual 2025 collection.
He explained that the upward forecast reflects anticipated growth in oil production from 1.7 million barrels per day in 2025 to 1.8 million barrels per day in 2026, alongside gains from ongoing tax reforms.
Lawmakers query capital performance
During the session, lawmakers raised concerns over what they described as zero capital performance under the 2025 budget.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, defended the administration’s fiscal direction, noting that before the current government took office, the country relied heavily on Ways and Means financing to plug budget deficits, while the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited absorbed petrol subsidy costs through under-recovery arrangements.
He described the model as “unsustainable” and said President Bola Tinubu halted unchecked Ways and Means borrowing, which had risen to about ₦30 trillion.
According to him, the move was necessary to restore macroeconomic stability, although it created a significant funding gap.
Mr Edun said the Minister of State would address the issue of capital releases for Finance, who is expected to appear before the committee.
Also speaking, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said engagements with the National Assembly led to an agreement to roll over 70 per cent of the 2025 capital allocation into 2026.
He added that the Budget Ministry and the Budget Office rely on data from the Office of the Accountant-General and the Finance Ministry for implementation reports. He expressed optimism that recent executive actions would improve funding performance in the 2026 budget.
“Steps are being taken. The president has demonstrated that he has issued an executive order which we believe is consistent with the agreement reached that the 2026 budget that will be coming will have chances of it being better funded would be put in place,” he said.
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The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi (APC, Katsina), said the interaction was necessary to enable lawmakers to scrutinise the 2026 appropriation proposals and give Nigerians clarity on revenue projections and budget implementation.
He noted that with about ₦28 trillion realised in 2025 against a ₦25 trillion target, the committee required further details from the revenue authorities to guide legislative consideration of the 2026 estimates.
“We have decided to engage the NRS Chairman to shed more light on the revenue in terms of the 2026 projections. In 2025, we have achieved about N28 trillion from our revenue, from the target of N25 trillion.
“We need to have more information from you so that Nigerians can know what is going on,” he added.
