FAAC revenue soars; growth slows
Revenue shared by Nigeria’s three tiers of government rose to ₦31.46tn between January and September 2026, exceeding the full-year collections recorded in four of the previous five years, according to a report by Agora Policy.
The report, titled Ten Insights from FAAC Disbursements for January–September 2026, said the figure surpassed the ₦28.74tn recorded in the whole of 2024 and represented about 88 per cent of the ₦35.81tn collected in 2025.
Etim Ekpimah
Revenue shared by Nigeria’s three tiers of government rose to ₦31.46tn between January and September 2026, exceeding the full-year collections recorded in four of the previous five years, according to a report by Agora Policy.
The report, titled Ten Insights from FAAC Disbursements for January–September 2026, said the figure surpassed the ₦28.74tn recorded in the whole of 2024 and represented about 88 per cent of the ₦35.81tn collected in 2025.
However, the report cautioned that the increase reflected nominal growth, warning that revenue remained volatile, growth was slowing, and mineral revenue fell significantly short of budget projections.
The report showed that statutory revenue accounted for ₦24.25tn, or 77.1 per cent, of the total, while value-added tax contributed ₦7.21tn, representing 22.9 per cent.
Of the ₦31.46tn gross revenue, ₦20.36tn, or 65 per cent, was available for distribution before augmentation. The remaining ₦11.10tn, representing 35 per cent, went towards savings, interventions, refunds, transfers and collection costs.
An additional ₦450bn augmentation brought total distributions to ₦20.81tn during the nine months.
The Federal Government received approximately ₦7.35tn, while state governments received ₦7.01tn and local governments got ₦4.92tn. Oil-producing states also received ₦1.53tn under the 13 per cent derivation principle, which allocates a share of oil revenue to states where the resources are extracted.
Agora Policy noted that the ₦31.46tn generated in the first nine months of 2026 was 240.8 per cent higher than the ₦9.23tn recorded in the whole of 2021. It also exceeded the full-year collections of ₦12.34tn in 2022, ₦16.28tn in 2023 and ₦28.74tn in 2024 by 154.5 per cent, 93.2 per cent and 9.5 per cent, respectively.
The report stressed that these comparisons were based on nominal figures and did not account for inflation or changes in the purchasing power of the naira.
Gross revenue increased by ₦3.51tn, or 12.6 per cent, from ₦27.95tn in January–September 2025 to ₦31.46tn in the corresponding period of 2026.
Despite the increase, the pace of growth had slowed. The ₦3.51tn rise recorded in the first nine months of 2026 was less than half the ₦8.97tn increase recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
According to the report, the sharp revenue increase in 2024 followed the foreign exchange and petrol subsidy reforms introduced in 2023, which may have contributed to higher naira-denominated receipts.
It added that tax reform implementation and higher oil prices associated with the conflict in Iran might also have supported revenue growth in 2026. However, it noted that the available aggregate figures were insufficient to establish the precise contribution of each factor.
Average monthly gross revenue stood at ₦3.50tn in the first nine months of 2026, compared with ₦2.98tn for the whole of 2025.
Agora Policy said the continued increase in revenue offered a stronger nominal resource base for government spending but warned against treating the figures as evidence of equivalent growth in real purchasing power.
The report estimated that, if the nine-month collection pace continued, full-year gross revenue could reach approximately ₦41.95tn. It cautioned, however, that this was a simple annualised estimate rather than a forecast, as seasonal revenue fluctuations could affect collections in the remaining months.
It also warned that changes in crude oil prices and the exchange rate could either increase or reduce government receipts before the end of the year.
