How Mbah grew Enugu’s IGR from N26bn to N407bn, By Uche Anichukwu

Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is an intentional man, who thinks through his plans in details, and executes them with perfect precision

Assuming you were not privy to his private sector exploits – how he built Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited from a two-room apartment and two initial staff (a secretary and a dispatch rider) into a unicorn and market leader in just a couple of years through disruptive innovation – you would be tempted to dismiss his humongous visions as he professes them. But Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah is an intentional man, who thinks through his plans in details, and executes them with perfect precision that is uncommon.

He sees the beginning from the end, and like every student of Nelson Mandela, who once said that it seems impossible until it is done, he sticks to his visions until he midwives them into reality.

In his manifesto, which he presented to Ndi Enugu ahead of the 2023 governorship election, Mbah unveiled a bold vision to grow the economy of Enugu State from $4.4 billion to $30 billion – which is over 27 per cent compound growth. He also promised to position the state as a premier destination for investment, business, tourism and for living.

However, one question kept reoccurring during his various interactive sessions ahead of that election. Ndi Enugu kept wondering how he hoped to raise resources to fund the consequent infrastructural revolution and other enablers required to actualise his rather radical vision and targets. They rightly referred to the state’s marginal growth rate and modest federal allocations.

Mbah made quite abundantly clear his determination and well-thought-out plans to rally local resources and exponentially grow the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, through disruptive innovation to lessen the overdependence on the centre. Consequently, upon assumption of office, he immediately appointed capable hands into the revenue sector agencies with an unequivocal directive to radically grow the state’s IGR.

Furthermore, the government also adopted several disruptive and innovative revenue collection strategies. They include the implementation of a Central Revenue Management System, CRMS, which brought together all revenues from different MDAs under one platform. That makes every payment noticeable and accountable.

Authorising of multiple payment gateways to collect revenues for the state; introduction of e-ticket technology in the informal sector revenue collection, consolidating all taxes and levies payable by market traders into a single and unified payment as well as the implementation of zero-cash collection policy throughout the state were helpful. Residents and taxpayers must use banks, online payment, POS, or E-ticket wallet collection for all their revenue payments to Enugu State. Mbah also widened the tax net to get more people to fulfill their civic obligation of tax payment.

This resulted in drastic fall in the excesses of non-state actors and corrupt revenue staff, thus skyrocketing the state’s IGR. Enugu State’s IGR grew from N26.8 billion recorded in year 2022 preceding Mbah’s emergence to N37.4 billion at the end of 2023, thus representing a 39.6 per cent increase. As the extensive reforms gained grounds, the administration scaled the state’s IGR to N180.5 billion in 2024, representing a whooping 382.6 per cent growth. The IGR further surged to N406.77 billion in 2025, which translates to additional 125.4 per cent growth.

Instructively, contrary to the false narrative of over-taxation being weaved by the opposition and unscrupulous elements, who hitherto defrauded the state though their sharp practices, it is noteworthy that out of this N406.7 billion IGR in 2025, only N51.5 billion came from taxes. This represents 12.6 per cent of the total IGR in 2025. Non-tax revenue stand at N355.2 billion, representing 87.4 per cent of the total IGR.

Only recently, the administration announced immediate and indefinite ban of daily toll collection of N100 and N200 from petty traders, declaring it illegal.

Truth is, most of the non-tax revenue is driven by recovery, revitalisation, optimisation, and monetization of hitherto dormant and fallow state assets. However, the state’s massive investment in infrastructure is expected to attract more residents and investments that will not only pay taxes, but also create taxable employments, thus ultimately boosting the tax revenue.

Predictably, Enugu State has leapfrogged on the national revenue table, standing out without doubts as one of the miracles of the current dispensation in that space. While the state placed 14th in 2022, it placed 13th in 2023, and jumped to 5th place in 2024. So far, it places 3rd on the 2025 table – although IGR data collation for 2025 is still ongoing and ranking liable to a slight change.

In view of these exploits, the State was also ranked the most fiscally viable state in Nigeria/the most likely state to survive without federal allocation in BudgIT’s State of the States Report, 2025. It also bagged the Best State Revenue Agency in ICT Integration in 2024 as conferred by the Bureau of Public Service Reform (The Presidency) and Governor of the Fastest Growing Revenue Award 2025 by the Revenue Magazine, while the Financial Architect Governor of the Year Award, 2025, was recently bestowed on Mbah by Independent Newspapers.

Meanwhile, these IGR leaps have translated to over 2,000 ongoing or completed projects, major investments and revival of long moribund assets by the Mbah Administration. They include: 267 Smart Green Schools in the 260 Wards of the State, 260 Type 2 Primary Healthcare Centres in 260 wards, the International Conference Center, Hotel Presidential, Niger Gas Limited, United Palm produce Limited, Lion Business park Limited, Sunrise Flour Mills Limited.

Also, in line with the vision to grow the state’s economy radically, the revenues have also gone into the creation of new critical assets and enablers of economic growth such as an Ultramodern Command and Control Centre linked to AI-enabled cameras across the state; Enugu Air; five ultramodern Bus terminals; the 340-room International Conference Centre Hotel; Enugu Haier Factory; Enugu International Hospital; New Enugu City; Enugu State Geographical Information System (ENGIS); among others.

The result is that the people are now motivated more than ever before to pay tax, while the completed ones have equally become a source of revenue for the state.

The administration is not resting on its IGR successes. It continues with reforms, capacity building for revenue staff, priming of technology, and provision of enabling tools and improved work environment as well as constituent public enlightenment and positive reorientation of the people.

*Uche Anichukwu is a Senior Special Assistant to the Enugu State Governor