Nigeria’s fiscal policy has shifted, and non-oil revenues have driven the country’s best public finance performance in decades. In the first eight months of 2025, total government collection increased by 40.5% to ₦20.59 trillion, up from ₦14.6 trillion in the same period last year. Non-oil revenues were ₦15.69 trillion, or nearly 76% of total collections.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga called the performance a “landmark moment” for the economy, and noted that Nigeria has finally moved away from years of dependence on crude oil. He said compliance, digitisation and institutional reform is putting Nigeria on the path to stronger, more sustainable revenues.
President Bola Tinubu echoed Onanuga’s comments at an event with a delegation of the Buhari Organisation while showcasing that the reforms of his administration were beginning to produce results. Tinubu pointed out that the fiscal plan of the government is aligned to the Renewed Hope Agenda, creating better foundations for education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Tinubu added, “the reason the government revenues are increasing is because we are making every naira count.”
The performance has already resulted in record distributions from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). In July, disbursements from the Federal, State, and Local governments exceeded ₦2 trillion for the first time, allowing sub-national governments to invest in food security, infrastructure, and social services. Likewise, for June, the disbursement rose from ₦1.66 trillion in May to ₦1.818 trillion.
It should be noted that the federal government has not withdrawn overdraft from local banks in 2025. Last year, deficit financing from the country had caused local financial institutions serious difficulty. This is considered as a positive achievement in improved fiscal management.
There was a major contribution to the improving revenue profile from customs collections. The Nigeria Customs Service was able to collect ₦3.68 trillion in the first half of the year, exceeding its expectations by ₦390 billion and achieving 56% of its annual target already. It should be noted that officials from the Nigeria Customs Service attribute the high performance to systemic reforms such as customs automation, increased enforcement action, and digital filing.
FIRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service) has also expanded its digitized tax administration system to more businesses and individuals. However, government officials have cautioned that while inflation and the revaluation of the exchange rate influenced growth in revenue numbers, that the increase has been the result of improved efficiency, rather than short-lived distortions from the economy.
Despite making net positive gains, the presidency has emphasized that revenue remains lower than the level of investment in Nigeria. Onanuga commented that “the challenge now is to translate these numbers into real relief for the people of Nigeria, and they should be seeing that through improved schools, hospitals, roads, jobs and food security.”
While revenue numbers have shown an extraordinary transformation, some observers have noted that Nigerians continue to face an unrelenting inflation burden that is affecting the cost of living. Some critics commented that the government should do a better job of ensuring that public policies result in tangible benefits for ordinary Nigerians.
Former presidential candidate Peter Obi reflected on the achievement, but stated that the administration must ensure that “revenue actions translate into people seeing benefits in their daily lives.”
In the future, the government has stated that they want “to lock in” these revenue gains by fostering a better culture of revenue compliance, increasing digitalization, and strengthening institutional reform as governance improvements. Officials have stated these are not one-off reactions, rather systemic changes that will ultimately create the sustainable basis for revenue and resilience to external shocks.