From Growth to Fiscal Resilience: Abia’s IGR journey and the road ahead, By Emmanuel Okpechi

Three years into the administration of Governor Alex C. Otti, OFR, Abia State offers a compelling example of what disciplined leadership can achieve. Long-neglected roads are being rebuilt; Aba and Umuahia are undergoing visible renewal; investment in education and healthcare has expanded; sanitation has improved; and workers and pensioners have received renewed attention.

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By May 2026, the administration reported 414 completed road projects covering more than 800 kilometres, alongside major interventions in schools, health facilities and public services.

These projects reflect a governing philosophy: public money must be prudently managed, transparently accounted for and converted into services citizens can see and use. Internally generated revenue is central because development cannot be sustained if government’s ambitions permanently outrun its resources.

Figures published recently by BudgIT in its report titled “NIGERIA’S ECONOMIC REFORMS – What Has Changed Across Nigeria’s States? An Analysis of State Finances in the Post-Subsidy Years” present Abia’s remarkable progress in IGR. A comparative analysis of states indicates that Abia’s actual IGR rose from ₦14.67 billion in 2022 to ₦66.86 billion in 2025—an increase of ₦52.19 billion, or approximately 356 per cent.

The state generated about 4.56 times its 2022 IGR in 2025, with an outstanding compound annual growth rate of 65.79 per cent, well above the 38.38 per cent aggregate rate for the reporting states. Among the 34 states with comparable data, Abia ranked third in IGR growth, second in the South-East and 10th in absolute IGR in 2025.

Alex Otti’s IGR Philosophy and Approach

At the inception of his government, Governor Otti granted a three-month moratorium on tax collection. During severe economic pressure, government chose first to relieve citizens, restore services and rebuild legitimacy before demanding greater compliance. It recognised that sustainable taxation rests not merely on aggressive extraction and enforcement, but on trust.

The Governor captures this social contract in a simple formulation: tax is government’s share of the prosperity it has helped to create. Taxation should therefore support development, not become an instrument of harassment. Government must enable enterprise through roads, security, sanitation, functional markets and reliable institutions. When citizens see such value, lawful taxes become contributions to shared prosperity rather than arbitrary exactions.

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This philosophy has guided the redesign of revenue administration. Automation and digital payment channels are reducing the human discretion that once encouraged diversion and abuse. The no-cash collection policy requires government revenue to pass through approved channels and leave a verifiable trail. The Consolidated Demand Notice harmonises lawful obligations that were previously fragmented among government entities, helping to reduce multiple taxation and make liabilities clearer to businesses – a key feature of ease of doing business.

The Harmonised Task Force has strengthened coordination in the field, curbed unauthorised collectors and protected citizens from arbitrary demands. The administration’s position must remain firm: no revenue target justifies illegality, intimidation or the return of touts. Alongside these measures is a continuous effort to block leakages through reconciliation, monitoring of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, verification of assessments, investigation of anomalies and sanctions for diversion. Technology is essential, but it works only with accountable institutions and competent personnel.

Transparency completes the reform circle. Citizens are more likely to comply when government publishes credible accounts and turns revenue into visible services. Governor Otti’s emphasis on accountability is therefore not separate from IGR mobilisation; it is one of its strongest drivers. Better roads, functioning health centres, improved schools and cleaner commercial centres provide evidence that the tax compact can work.

More to be Done

Yet Abia’s remarkable achievement must not breed complacency. Although the State’s IGR grew strongly enough to improve its IGR-to-FAAC ranking from 24th among 34 states in 2022 to 14th in 2025, the State still generated about ₦21 internally for every ₦100 received from FAAC, as federal allocations rose sharply nationwide following major fiscal reforms. The next frontier is clear: sustain the impressive IGR growth, but accelerate it beyond FAAC growth so internally generated revenue can finance an increasing share of Abia’s development and steadily strengthen the State’s fiscal self-reliance.

That frontier requires five priorities. First, the State will broaden the revenue base by improving taxpayer data, business enumeration, property records and inter-agency integration.

Second, we will deepen end-to-end automation—from registration and assessment to payment, reconciliation, objections and enforcement—so every transaction can be linked to the taxpayer, revenue head and liability settled.

Third, improve the conversion of valid assessments into collections. A demand notice that is not properly served, understood, tracked or lawfully enforced is merely paper. Conversion rates should be measured by revenue head, sector, locality and responsible institution.

Fourth, expand sustainable, less-distortionary sources through transparent property and land administration, urban services, transport systems, signage, digital commerce and better-managed state assets. The state will not build its fiscal narrative around exceptional, non-recurrent receipts.

Fifth, make taxpayer service as important as enforcement. Clear information, accessible complaint channels, prompt resolution of disputed assessments and protection from multiple or unauthorised demands will strengthen voluntary compliance. Enforcement must remain firm and lawful, but it should follow fair notice, reliable records and an opportunity for review. Transparency will also advance through timely budget reports and accessible summaries showing major IGR sources, collection efficiency and the public services revenue supports.

Abia’s progress is encouraging because higher revenue has accompanied visible renewal. Governor Otti has shown that fiscal reform gains legitimacy when citizens connect public contributions to public value. The task now is to institutionalise this approach beyond political cycles.

There is much to celebrate. But the strongest tribute to progress is the resolve to raise the standard again. Under Governor Otti’s leadership, Abia has become one of Nigeria’s fastest- improving states in IGR. The next goal is lasting fiscal strength: a broad, fair, technology-driven and trusted revenue system that expands prosperity, protects citizens and steadily reduces dependence on federal transfers by turning Abia’s huge IGR potential into a sustainable reality of growth.

*Dr Emmanuel Okpechi, FCA, FCTI, is Special Adviser to the Governor Alex Otti on Internally Generated Revenue