Economy
Kwara to Boost Cocoa Beans, Establish Nursery
By Dipo Olowookere
The administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has assured cocoa farmers in the state of adequate support that would make them richer.
At a recent Cocoa Farmers’ Roundtable Conference held at Cocoa House, Oke Onigbin, in Isin Local Government Area of the state, the Governor said his administration has raised 50,000 hybrid Cocoa seedlings, which will be distributed to farmers at affordable prices once they mature in 18 months.
According to him, “This is being done with a view to ensuring the prompt and effective rehabilitation and regeneration of the aged cocoa plantations or farms existing in the state.”
“In this fiscal year, we plan to resuscitate the training and retraining of cocoa farmers on good agricultural practices through the Farmers Field School (FFS) and Farmers Business School (FBS) respectively.
“This is being done with a view to enhancing the quality of the cocoa beans being produced in the state, Mr AbdulRazaq, who was represented at the event by the Commissioner for Agricultural and Rural Development, Mrs Adenike Afolabi-Oshatimehin, stated.
He said, “In addition, we also intend to look into prospects of being able to possibly address extant challenges associated with some of the critical input requirements of cocoa farmers in the state.”
The Governor further said the state government would establish a cocoa nursery in the state to serve as the
genuine source of planting materials for the farmers, noting that the present administration understands that inadequate basic social amenities, physical infrastructure, et al, could constitute disincentives for farming in agrarian communities in the state.
“It is for this reason and more that we are committing significant resources to road construction, healthcare, water and basic education in the 2020 budget, which has just been passed and assented to,” he added.
“Agriculture occupies a vantage position under this administration. We have invested a lot of money to reposition the sector, beginning with the N200 million counterpart fund for RAAMP III and another N49.78 million FADAMA counterpart fund, among others,” he continued.
“We have also made appreciable budgetary provisions for agriculture this year, while also engaging the federal government and private investors on how to grow the sector in the state, Governoir AbdulRazaq revealed,
He assured the farmers that the administration remains firmly committed to rebuilding and reconstructing the state for the good of all and for the benefit of children yet unborn.
“Since we came on board, our administration has given so much attention to cocoa because of its extensive value chain — just as we are doing with sugarcane and other essential crops and agricultural produce that can be successfully cultivated in the state,” he told the farmers, who listened to him with rapt attention.
“Kwara is currently grouped as a minor cocoa state in Nigeria, owing in part to the perennial migration of cocoa farmers to other states and the seemingly unabated trend of rural-urban migration. This is a narrative that we want to change and as soon as possible,” he declared.
Mr AbdulRazaq also congratulated the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN) for the event which he said was designed to discuss the way to reposition the cocoa subsector in Kwara State and other parts of Nigeria, where the cash crop could be grown successfully.
He assured the farmers that the administration would work with them to develop the cocoa subsector in the state.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed about N2.550 trillion from the revenue generated by the nation in June 2026 to the three tiers of government after its July meeting in Abuja.
A statement signed by the Director of Press in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Bawa Mokwa, “The N2.550 trillion total distributable revenue comprised N1.809 trillion in distributable statutory revenue and N740.724 billion in distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.”
It was gathered that a total gross revenue of N4.500 trillion was available in June 2026, with deductions for the cost of collection amounting to N160.744 billion, and transfers and refunds at N1.789 trillion.
According to a communiqué after the gathering, gross statutory revenue of N3.700 trillion was received in June 2026, N1.049 trillion higher than the N2.651 trillion received in the preceding month, while gross revenue of N799.746 billion was generated from VAT, N56.058 billion higher than the N743.688 billion recorded in May 2026.
It was stated that from the N2.550 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal government received N923.438 billion, the state governments got N838.208 billion, while the local government councils were given N591.390 billion, with N197.610 billion allocated to the benefiting states as 13 per cent of mineral derivation revenue.
From the N1.809 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government went away with N849.366 billion, states shared N430.810 billion, local councils took N332.136 billion, while the benefiting states got N197.610 billion as derivation revenue.
From the N740.724 billion distributable VAT earnings, the central government got N74.072 billion, the states received N407.398 billion, and the local government councils were allocated N259.253 billion.
The communiqué further stated that in June 2026, collections from Companies Income Tax (CIT), Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Stamp Duties (SDT), Petroleum Royalties, Gas Flare Penalties, Rent, Mineral Oil Royalties (MOR), Value Added Tax (VAT), Import Duty, and Common External Tariff (CET) Levies increased significantly, while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), Mineral Royalties, and Fees declined considerably. Excise Duty recorded only a marginal increase.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
See the full list below:
