Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for increasing national tax revenue to N21.6 trillion since the introduction of tax reforms in 2026.
Governor Sani stated this at the 160th edition of the Joint Revenue Board meeting, which was held in Kaduna on Wednesday, with the theme, “One Year Of Tax Reform: Assessing Progress and Addressing Challenges.’’
Sani recalled that the nation’s revenue was approximately N10.1 trillion in 2023, N21.6 trillion in 2024, and N36.8 trillion in 2025.
“In the first half of 2026 alone, revenue reached approximately N21.6 trillion, representing a 49 per cent increase over the corresponding period of the previous year,’’ he pointed out.
The Governor said Tinubu had taken ‘’the bold and politically demanding decision to fundamentally reform Nigeria’s tax architecture through landmark legislation, including the Act that transformed the former Joint Tax Board into the Joint Revenue Board.’’
‘’That decision reflected a profound understanding: that a modern economy cannot be sustained by an outdated, fragmented or overly complex revenue system.
‘’Nigeria requires a tax architecture that is coherent, predictable, efficient and capable of supporting national development without unnecessarily constraining enterprise and investment,’’ he argued.
The Governor paid tribute to the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, Zach Adedeji, for his exceptional leadership and statesmanship in advancing Nigeria’s tax reform agenda.
“His contribution has been distinguished not merely by technical competence, but by a clear appreciation of the larger purpose of tax reform: to strengthen revenue mobilisation while making the system simpler, fairer, more predictable and more responsive to taxpayers.
“Reforms of this magnitude inevitably require courage. They demand the patience to build consensus, the discipline to stay the course, and the institutional imagination to turn legislation into effective administrative practice. Mr Adedeji has demonstrated these qualities with distinction,’’ he said.
Governor Sani also commended the immediate past Executive Chairman of the Kaduna Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS), Jerry Adams, and his team for increasing the state’s internally generated revenue from barely N4 billion to N10 billion per month.
He argued that the revenue figures are more than fiscal statistics, but they point to “an emerging capacity to finance national development increasingly from domestic resources.’’
According to him, the tax reforms aim at ‘’simplifying a complex tax environment, reducing multiple and overlapping taxation, deploying technology and e-invoicing to minimise leakages.
He further noted that the new tax reforms seek to consolidate revenue administration and, perhaps most importantly, rebuild the relationship between government and the taxpayer.
The Governor also argued that sustainable taxation cannot rest on coercion alone but must be founded on fairness, transparency, predictability and trust.
The governor said his administration would continue to invest in technology-driven revenue collection, professionalise the revenue workforce and strengthen taxpayer education and engagement.
“We seek to expand the tax base rather than continually place a heavier burden on the same compliant taxpayers. We seek to make compliance easier and enforcement more intelligent, targeted and transparent.
“Above all, we seek to establish a relationship with taxpayers based not on fear, but on clarity, fairness and mutual responsibility. This is also why the institutional architecture created by the new reform matters so greatly,” Governor Sani said.
