By Demola Akinyemi
Kwara State has recorded a remarkable rise in Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) as more residents and business owners enter the tax system, with the state’s IGR increasing from N69.19 billion in 2024 to N92.19 billion in 2025.
The Executive Chairman of Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KW-IRS), Shade Omoniyi, spoke in an interview with journalists on Wednesday shortly before the commissioning of
the newly constructed 11-storey Revenue House of the Service in Ilorin.
She noted that the development, reflects growing taxpayer compliance and efforts to make tax administration easier for residents.
Omoniyi explained that the number of taxpayer records maintained by the Service had also grown from fewer than 50,000 when she assumed office to more than 1.4 million currently.
The KW-IRS records show that the state’s IGR rose from N35.45 billion in 2022 to N56.42 billion in 2023, N69.19 billion in 2024 and N92.19 billion in 2025.
Omoniyi attributed the growth partly to improved technology, better data collection and efforts to build taxpayers’ confidence in the system.
She said the Service was no longer interested in constantly chasing taxpayers to comply, but was working towards creating a system where people would willingly come forward to fulfil their tax obligations.
“Data is key to ensure that I have all the information I need as far as how to assess you. I don’t want to over-assess you. I don’t want to under-assess you either,” she said.
According to her, the expansion of the taxpayer database would enable the Service to assess taxpayers more accurately while reducing cases of multiple visits to different offices.
She explained that the new Revenue House was designed to address the challenge of having strategic departments scattered across different parts of Ilorin.
The 11-storey building, she said, would bring the major departments together and provide space for about 600 staff, while also creating a one-stop centre for taxpayers.
Omoniyi said the project was financed from savings made from budgetary allocations previously set aside for consultants.
She explained that after assuming office, the Service reviewed the basis for paying consultants and began paying according to services rendered rather than total revenue collected.
By the end of 2022, she said, the Service had saved about N3.9 billion and reported the funds to the state government.
She said the state government subsequently approved the use of part of the savings for the construction of the Revenue House.
The new facility is also expected to provide additional services, including a banking hall, e-Centre, vehicle and driver’s licence services, a crèche, gym, restaurant and rentable spaces.
Omoniyi said these facilities were deliberately included to make the building partly self-sustaining and support its long-term maintenance.
She added that two floors would be rented out, while the banking premises, restaurant and charges for photography and other commercial activities would generate income for the maintenance of the facility.
On the issue of revenue management, the KW-IRS chairman clarified that the Service does not have access to the money it collects on behalf of the state.
She said the agency’s responsibility was to assess, collect and account for revenue, while the funds go into the state government’s IGR account.
“I’m not a signatory to the IGR account,” she said, explaining that the Service’s role was to meet the revenue targets assigned to it.
Omoniyi also said the Service had continued to automate revenue collection across the state, noting that cash collection had been eliminated in several government facilities, including hospitals.
She said the long-term objective was to ensure that services available at the new Revenue House could also be accessed by taxpayers across the 16 local government areas through technology.
The KW-IRS boss acknowledged that enforcement activities sometimes generate resistance, citing the recent controversy surrounding revenue enforcement involving landlords in Malete.
She said the agency deliberately carried out the exercise during the period when students were on break because the enforcement was targeted at landlords and not students.
According to her, improved understanding of the role of the revenue authority would ultimately help reduce mistrust and encourage voluntary compliance.
“We want you to own your own. Because you are comfortable with the services we render, come over to us to pay,” she said.
The new Revenue House therefore comes at a time when Kwara’s revenue system is undergoing a significant expansion, with the Service seeking to bring more taxpayers into the formal system while making payment and other tax-related services easier to access.
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