Economy
70% of Lagos IGR Comes from Taxes—LIRS Chairman
By Dipo Olowookere
The executive chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr Ayodele Subair, has said about 70 per cent of the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) comes from taxes paid by individuals and organisations doing business in the metropolis.
Mr Subair made this disclosure when he received the Managing Director of New Telegraph Newspapers, Mr Ayodele Aminu, and the Daily Editor of the media platform, Ms Juliet Bumah, in his office in Alausa, recently.
The management of the Daily Telegraph Publishing Company Limited, publishers of New Telegraph Newspapers, visited the LIRS chief to inform him of the decision to honour him with an award of leadership excellence at a ceremony to be held later in the year.
Mr Aminu said the LIRS boss was chosen because of his remarkable contributions to the development of the state and the country, especially in the tax sector.
But Mr Subair attributed the tax revolution in Lagos State to the former Governor of the state and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections, Mr Bola Tinubu, saying he contributed to the significant boost to the Lagos IGR.
“He is the father of this tax revolution in Lagos State. So, we must always give him that credit. Since he made the LIRS board autonomous, the numbers have been leaping in bounds, and we hope to continue on that trajectory because we have to provide the funding for the state.
“The incumbent Governor (Babajide Sanwo-Olu) has been very supportive of our innovations and fresh ideas in tax administration in Lagos State,” he said.
The LIRS leader said Mr Tinubu must be commended for having the vision to “create some independent agencies like the LIRS and making the state less reliant on the federal government’s allocation.”
Speaking on the award, Mr Subair noted, “The joy is when there is a bit of recognition, then you feel justified, you feel happy that you have spent all those long hours burning candles at night and so forth justifiably. I’m very pleased that you have deemed it fit to honour the agency and me. I assure you that management would be well represented at the award ceremony, God’s willing.”
“It is a moment like this that we feel very glad we have put ourselves at the service of our dear state. We usually don’t get any recognition internally or externally; rather, it is you can always do better. But in our world, our numbers speak for themselves.
“In your letter, you said we almost doubled our internal revenue generation since the inception of our tenure, but in fact, it’s more than double,” he added.
While commending the staff of the LIRS for their dedication and steadfastness, the LIRS boss said, “We are delighted that we have been able to achieve all those things. It’s all from dedicated leadership and followership.
“The staff plays a very big role in making our numbers rise. Management directs and formulates the policies and all the various processes that generate such income, but at the same time, we need to commend the foot soldiers; they are the ones out in the field who help us to advocate for taxpayers to try and be tax compliant, to respect the social contracts, and to understand that if they want the state to improve in terms of provision of infrastructure and quality services, they also need to contribute.”
Mr Subair advised Nigerians, especially Lagos residents, not to relent in their duties by paying their taxes regularly and diligently as it would help the government provide infrastructure and social amenities as attainable in developed countries.
“Everybody goes to the UK, U.S and they are all marvelled at the level of their infrastructure, good road network, free education, electricity and all other things. All these are made possible because the people are highly tax-compliant in that clime. Nobody is chasing anyone about paying taxes.
“If you don’t pay tax, the sanctions are there. People go to jail. There are no two ways about it. But unfortunately, in Africa, extending to Nigeria and Lagos, people don’t want to pay taxes.
“Yes, globally, people don’t want to pay; if they could avoid it, they would avoid it, So it makes our job very difficult and trickier,” he noted.
The LIRS chairman said while tax is the most sustainable revenue, it took the federal government so long to start looking inward as tax is funding the operations of the federal government right now.
“The federal government is not getting much from the oil industry like before. So it is just what FIRS is doing that is helping. Likewise, in Lagos, all the federal receipts have gone down considerably, so it’s mostly what we are generating here and some other revenue-generating agencies,” he said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The acquisition of the Bullet brand portfolio from Sun Mark has been completed by Champion Breweries Plc, a statement from the company confirms.
This marks a transformative milestone in the organisation’s strategic expansion into a diversified, pan-African beverage platform.
With this development, Champion Breweries now owns the Bullet brand assets, trademarks, formulations, and commercial rights globally through an asset carve-out structure.
The assets are held in a newly incorporated entity in the Netherlands, in which Champion Breweries holds a majority interest, while Vinar N.V., the majority shareholder of Sun Mark, retains a minority stake.
Bullet products are currently distributed in 14 African markets, positioning Champion Breweries to scale beyond Nigeria in the high-growth ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic and energy drink segments.
This expansion significantly broadens the brewer’s addressable market and strengthens its revenue base with an established, profitable portfolio that already enjoys strong brand recognition and consumer loyalty across multiple markets.
“The successful completion of our public equity raises, together with the formal close of the Bullet acquisition, marks a defining moment for Champion Breweries.
“The support we received from both existing shareholders and new investors reflects strong confidence in our long-term strategy to build a diversified, high-growth beverage platform with pan-African scale.
“Our focus now is on disciplined execution, integration, and delivering sustained value across markets,” the chairman of Champion Breweries, Mr Imo-Abasi Jacob, stated.
Through this transaction, Champion Breweries is expected to achieve enhanced foreign exchange earnings, expanded distribution leverage across African markets, integrated supply chain efficiencies, portfolio diversification into high‑growth consumer beverage categories, and strengthened presence in the RTD and energy drink segments.
The acquisition accelerates Champion Breweries’ transition from a regional brewing business to a multi-category consumer platform with continental reach.
Bullet Black is Nigeria’s leading ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage, while Bullet Blue has built a strong presence in the energy drink category across several African markets.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Emerging market fintech firm, M-KOPA, has announced plans to deepen its reach in Nigeria to the South South and South East regions, starting with Edo this year, after providing N231 billion in credit to over 1 million customers in the country.
The firm released its first Nigeria-focused Impact Report, which showed that Nigeria is M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market and fastest to reach the milestone.
Since its foray into the Nigerian market in 2019, M-KOPA has been working to dismantle barriers to financial inclusion by providing flexible smartphone financing and digital financial tools that align with how people in the informal economy earn and manage their money.
It operates in six states in the country, including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, among others.
The report highlights the company’s contribution to income generation, digital inclusion and economic opportunity for Every Day Earners across the country.
The report showed that M-KOPA has enabled 290,000 first-time smartphone users, while 56 per cent of agents accessed their first income opportunity through the platform.
It showed high income and livelihood gains among its users, with about 77 per cent of customers leveraging smartphones or digital loans obtained through the platform to generate income, indicating that access to financed devices is directly supporting micro-entrepreneurial activity and informal sector productivity.
Furthermore, 75 per cent of users report higher earnings since gaining access to M-KOPA’s services, suggesting measurable improvements in personal revenue streams. On the distribution side, 99 per cent of agents disclose increased earnings, reflecting positive spillover effects across the company’s value chain.
In addition, 81 per cent of long-term customers state that their household expenses have improved, pointing to enhanced financial stability and better consumption smoothing over time.
Speaking on the report, Mr Babajide Duroshola, General Manager, M-KOPA Nigeria, said, “Nigeria represents extraordinary potential, and we’re proud that it has become M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market. Our Impact Report shows that when Every Day Earners gain access to the right digital and financial tools, they use them to create stability and long-term progress for their families. This is about access that unlocks opportunity and sustained prosperity.”
On its expansion plans Nigeria-wide, the M-KOPA helmsman said, “Many of the states we are considering are already similar to the ones we are currently in proximity… So, there is proximity and similarity between these states, and that’s what we are going to do, starting with Edo.”
He noted that as M-KOPA Nigeria continues to expand, the focus remains on ensuring more everyday earners gain access to the digital and financial tools they need to build resilient, prosperous futures in Nigeria’s rapidly digitising economy.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The ban on the export of raw shea nuts from Nigeria has been extended by one year by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday disclosed that the ban is now till February 25, 2027.
It was emphasised that this decision underscores the administration’s commitment to advancing industrial development, strengthening domestic value addition, and supporting the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The ban aims to deepen processing capacity within Nigeria, enhance livelihoods in shea-producing communities, and promote the growth of Nigerian exports anchored on value-added products, the statement noted.
To further these objectives, President Tinubu has authorised the two Ministers of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Presidential Food Security Coordination Unit (PFSCU), to coordinate the implementation of a unified, evidence-based national framework that aligns industrialisation, trade, and investment priorities across the shea nut value chain.
He also approved the adoption of an export framework established by the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the withdrawal of all waivers allowing the direct export of raw shea nuts.
The President directed that any excess supply of raw shea nuts should be exported exclusively through the NCX framework, in accordance with the approved guidelines.
Additionally, he directed the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide access to a dedicated NESS Support Window to enable the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to pilot a Livelihood Finance Mechanism to strengthen production and processing capacity.
Shea nuts, the oil-rich fruits from the shea tree common in the Savanna belt of Nigeria, are the raw material for shea butter, renowned for its moisturising, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The extracted butter is a principal ingredient in cosmetics for skin and hair, as well as in edible cooking oil. The Federal Government encourages processing shea nuts into butter locally, as butter fetches between 10 and 20 times the price of the raw nuts.
The federal government said it remains committed to policies that promote inclusive growth, local manufacturing and position Nigeria as a competitive participant in global agricultural value chains.
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