Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has rejected claims of high taxation in the state, describing them as a pathetic misconception promoted by the opposition and beneficiaries of the old order who manipulated revenue collection to fatten their private pockets.
Mbah insisted that his administration had grown the state’s Internally Generated Revenue by widening the tax net to include more taxable persons, blocking revenue leakages, and tackling sharp practices that previously drained public revenues.
He highlighted the introduction of Consolidated Demand Notice, e-ticketing, as well as recovery, optimisation, and monetisation of the state’s assets as key measures.
The governor stressed that the Enugu State Government lacks the power to increase or reduce taxes under the 1999 Constitution, as taxation remains the exclusive preserve of the federal government.
Mbah provided these clarifications during an exclusive interview aired by Afia Television on Wednesday evening.
“First, as a state, we are not able to legislate on taxation. It is in the exclusive legislative list, which can only be legislated on by the National Assembly. Whether it is your Personal Income Tax, your Company Income Tax, your Value Added Tax or your Withholding Tax, those taxes can only be legislated on by the National Assembly,” he clarified.
Mbah said those spreading false narratives struggle to accept that his administration scaled up the state’s IGR from N26.8 billion recorded in 2022 to N37.4 billion by the end of 2023, N180.5 billion in 2024, and N406.7 billion in 2025.
“I think for those framing this false narrative, it is beyond their imagination that we could optimise our dormant assets and grow our revenue exponentially.
They fail or refuse to take note of the fact that in 2025, for instance, tax revenue accounted for only N51.5bn or 12.6 per cent of the N406.7bn IGR, while non-tax revenue was N355.2bn or 87.4 per cent,” the governor added.
Mbah explained that in areas within the state’s competence, such as rates and levies, his administration has taken steps to significantly reduce payable amounts for certain services provided by the Enugu State Government.
“For those rates and fees, we constituted a committee that also included market leaders, organised labour, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others, which went around to get what the other states within the South East were charging. It turned out that Enugu is the lowest in the South East. But that notwithstanding, we crashed that rates even further by 70 per cent especially in land sectors,” he stated.
He acknowledged the continued activities of illegal revenue collectors, noting that the recently passed Enugu State Harmonized Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection) Law, 2026, would finally eliminate roadblocks and unauthorised collections burdening residents.
Mbah added that the government will strengthen enforcement and public enlightenment to curb the activities of extortionists.
“Under our laws, we have consolidated all these services and you only just have one payment that you make and you are done with all the services that the government provides.
Some people still go about extorting money from helpless citizens because this is a practice that has gone on over the years. But we have constituted a standing task force to track and bring them to book. We also want the citizens to report them. We now have several toll-free lines where citizens can call freely. They do not have to have airtime to place such calls,” he concluded.
