Economy

KWIRS Generates N9.6bn in Q1 2021

Published

5 years ago

20/04/2021

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A total of N9.6 billion was generated in the first quarter of 2021 by the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS). This is the highest ever collected by the agency without any extraordinary item at any quarter since its founding in 2016.

At a news briefing in Ilorin, the state capital on Tuesday, the executive chairman of the agency, Ms Shade Omoniyi, attributed this feat to the adoption of technology, the steady blockage of leakages within the tax administration system and the deliberate steps taken to tackle multiple taxations.

“KWIRS, since inception, has operated a manual tax administration system. This means the assessment and collection of relevant taxes payable to the state government from both KWIRS and other MDAs are on a contract basis.

“Despite this, the service has recorded steady IGR growth over the years. Upon its assumption of office in October 2019, the agency’s new management began working tirelessly to sustain this momentum. These efforts culminated in the IGR growth from N23 billion as of September 30 to N30.7 billion as of the end of the year, 2019.

“The service did not rest on its oars as various revenue and cost-cutting initiatives were immediately implemented to shore up the state IGR while it worked assiduously to automate its revenue and tax administration processes.

“The various revenue leakage blockages paid off when in quarter one of 2020, the service generated N7 billion. However, with the spread of the COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown of the state by the government towards the end of March and up until May, the state IGR plummeted to N2 billion.

“Given that the state’s economy was greatly affected by the lockdown and the state’s collection system was still contact-based as at this time, it was only to be expected that no serious activities would happen in the revenue space for that period.

“It is also known that Kwara State was one of the states who followed the COVID-19 protocols fully which is a main factor for the Q2 2020 revenue performance.

“In addition, you may recall that the state was adjudged as one of the highest in performance and proactiveness in the fight against COVID-19 on all indices by various monitoring entities.

“Recently, there was a similar feat of the government in the administration of the COVID-19 vaccination where the state topped all other states.

“Notwithstanding, with the gradual easing of the lockdown, revenue generation by the service again shot up to N4 billion in Q3 2020 and N6 billion in the Q4 of 2020.

“Thus, it is made obvious that the low IGR figures in Q2 and Q3 and consequent dip in 2020 IGR performance are solely attributable to the COVID-19 incidence and our contact-based collection which proved quite ineffective while the lockdown lasted. These observations were enumerated in the quarterly revenue collections reports released by the service in the year 2020.

“The service has since then not stopped working round the clock to recover lost grounds. Thus, in the first quarter of 2021, KWIRS recorded an IGR of N9,598,504,939.90, the highest so far in the history of the service without an extraordinary item.

“Having mapped out strategies to achieving its IGR target for the current fiscal year, the first quarter collections show steady and significant growth, month-on-month as indicated below: January (2,984,312,074.60); February3,058,746,474.21; March 3,555,446,391.09, totalling 9,598,504,939.90.

“This feat of KW-IRS in Q1, 2021 was a great improvement over the N6,227,099,973.42 raked in the last quarter of 2020.

“It is a reflection of the relentless efforts of the service in bringing seamlessness to tax administration through automation and introduction of online payment platforms to ease payment of all taxes.

“It is also a reflection of the Harmonized Bill recently introduced to serve the following benefits among others: calculates, consolidates and communicates all payable tax revenue and non-tax revenue as applicable to each eligible taxpayer in the State, within any assessment year; brings all eligible businesses into the tax net; stops illegal negotiations between taxpayers and collectors in the ministries or KWIRS offices and prevents diversion of funds; displays all taxes due for payment by a particular taxpayer to block most of the leakages and educates on double and multiple taxations by showing that a single entity or taxpayer could be charged to different revenue lines depending on nature of business.

“In addition to the Harmonized Bill, other initiatives have been introduced. This includes re-profiling of our taxpayers, making mandatory the submission of schedules along with remittances; carrying out prompt enforcement on recalcitrant taxpayers, expansion of ticketing model for the informal sector etc.

“The remarkable growth in the 2021 first quarter IGR is equally an indication that the Kwara State Government continues in its efforts to ensure the economic activities of the state recovers fast from the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The KWIRS, in spite of the drive to increase IGR, has not introduced new taxes since the inception of the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq; the required and legitimate taxes due are what is being paid by taxpayers and collected appropriately into the coffers of the state.

“All revenue lines of the MDAs in Kwara State are same as approved and as provided by existing relevant laws.

“KWIRS will continue to work to ensure improvement in revenue generation; veritable support for the federal allocation to ensure the state government meets its responsibilities and the desires of Kwarans.

“The agency will also continue its collaboration with all MDAs and stakeholders in the state for effective and efficient collection of all that is legally due from taxpayers.

“The service will strategically and systematically play its part by using most appropriate technology and committed workforce for the growth of revenue for the state.”

Economy

Naira Trades N1,348/$1 as CBN Opens Official Market to BDC Operators

Published

2 hours ago

12/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, February 11, by N2.07 or 0.15 per cent to N1,348.95/$1 from N1,351.02/$1 as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to further ease shortages and narrow the gap between the official and street rates.

The CBN approved the participation of licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as part of efforts to improve forex liquidity in the retail segment of the market and meet the legitimate needs of end users.

The apex bank capped the weekly FX purchases at $150,000, adding that utilisation complies with existing BDC operational guidelines.

In the same official market, the Nigerian currency gained N6.46 against the Pound Sterling to quote at N1,840.11/£1 versus N1,846.57/£1, and added N6.36 on the Euro to close at N1,600.13/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,606.49/€1.

At the GTBank FX counter, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 on the greenback to settle at N1,358/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,363/$1, but remained unchanged at N1,430/$1 in the black market.

Meanwhile, the digital currency market was bearish yesterday as traders sold their positions after digesting a more hawkish macro outlook.

Analysts mainly attributed the latest crypto selloff to shifting expectations around US macro policy, following a “hawkish shift” in Federal Reserve expectations after Kevin Warsh’s nomination as chairman of the US central bank, which signals tighter liquidity and fewer rate cuts ahead.

Traders will be watching key US labour market data for signs on the future path of interest rates and broader risk appetite.

Solana (SOL) shed 3.2 per cent to sell at $79.86, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $1,958.44, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 1.5 per cent to $67,540.62, Cardano (ADA) slid 1.5 per cent to $0.2579, Ripple (XRP) dipped 1.4 per cent to $1.37, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 1.2 per cent to $609.73, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.2 per cent to $52.58, and Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 1.1 per cent to $0.0917, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Nigerian Stocks Near N115trn Valuation After Midweek’s 0.78% Rise

Published

2 hours ago

12/02/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The positive momentum witnessed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lately continued on Wednesday after it further closed higher by 0.78 per cent.

More investors are showing interest in Nigerian stocks because of the recent bull run, leaving the market capitalisation to grow further by N880 billion yesterday to N114.377 trillion from N113.497 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,374.93 points to 178,184.35 points from 176,809.42 points.

Though the level of activity waned at midweek, data showed that it remained high, with a turnover of 939.2 million shares worth N34.0 billion in 61,279 deals compared with the 1.3 billion shares valued at N50.4 billion traded in 58,965 deals in the preceding session.

This showed that the trading volume went down by 27.75 per cent, and the trading value shrank by 32.54 per cent, while the number of deals jumped 3.92 per cent.

The busiest equity on Wednesday was Tantalizers with the sale of 85.3 million units worth N498.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 61.4 million units for N1.5 billion, Chams exchanged 38.6 million units valued at N174.1 million, Japaul sold 38.2 million units worth N89.5 million, and Deap Capital sold 36.8 million units valued at N314.1 million.

Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark, Nestle Nigeria, and Meyer all gained 10.00 per cent each to close at 33 Kobo, N4.95, N2,420.00, and N20.90 apiece, and CAP rose by 9.98 per cent to N99.20.

On the flip side, Honeywell Flour declined by 9.70 per cent to N22.80, Neimeth slipped by 9.15 per cent to N12.90, The Initiates crashed by 5.81 per cent to N19.45, RT Briscoe tumbled by 5.70 per cent to N14.40, and Sterling Holdings depreciated by 5.56 per cent to N7.65.

At the close of business, 49 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 31 stocks finished on the losers’ chart, showing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

As for the performance of the bourse’s sectors, four of the five monitored by Business Post were in green, with the industrial goods down by 0.02 per cent due to profit-taking in Lafarge Africa.

The banking counter improved by 1.58 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.53 per cent, the consumer goods index gained 1.28 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.02 per cent.

Economy

Oil Prices Rise on Fresh Iran-US Tensions

Published

3 hours ago

12/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices gained about 1 per cent on Wednesday, as investors worried about escalating tensions between Iran and the United States, which were preparing to resume negotiations.

Brent crude oil futures chalked up 60 cents or 0.87 per cent to sell for $69.40 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures appreciated by 67 cents or 1.05 per cent to $64.63 per barrel.

US President Donald Trump said nothing definitive was decided during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, but that negotiations with Iran toward a deal would continue.

On Tuesday, the American leader said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran, even as both oil producers are prepared to resume talks.

US and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks last week in Oman, amid a regional naval buildup by the US threatening Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.

After talks between US and Iranian teams in Oman on February 6, the US government imposed additional sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.

Meanwhile, Iran signalled readiness for nuclear verification while denying any intent to build weapons.

Also supporting oil prices was data showing that US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent, signalling a healthy economy.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left its oil supply-demand expectations largely unchanged in its monthly report, but highlighted that global oil demand for the wider group’s crude will drop by 400,000 barrels per day in the second quarter compared to the first.

The OPEC+ group, comprising OPEC nations, plus other allies, began raising output last year after years of cuts, but paused production hikes in the first quarter of 2026 amid predictions of a glut. Eight OPEC+ members meet on March 1, where they are expected to decide whether to resume the hikes in April.

Crude oil inventories in the US increased by 8.5 million barrels during the week ending February 6, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 428.8 million barrels according to government data.

EIA’s data release followed earlier figures released by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which suggested that crude oil inventories rose by 13.4 million barrels.