Bayelsa's revenue fell 21.42 per cent in 2025 as all but two states grew; NBS data show its salary tax dropped N22.88bn after a 2024 spike
The National Bureau of Statistics says state revenue rose 40.93 per cent in 2025. Its own spreadsheet shows Bayelsa and Sokoto went the other way, and that Bayelsa's fall comes almost entirely from PAYE, which had nearly quadrupled the year before.
The National Bureau of Statistics published its report on Internally Generated Revenue at State Level for 2025 in September 2026, a 15-page PDF with a spreadsheet of state figures from 2019 to 2025. Its key highlights, on page 4, say the 36 states and the FCT raised N5.15 trillion in 2025, "indicating a growth rate of 40.93 percent from N3.65 trillion recorded in 2024".
The report does not compare states with their own previous year. The Bureau's spreadsheet allows that comparison. Set side by side, its 2024 and 2025 sheets show that 35 of the 37 jurisdictions raised more in 2025 than in 2024. Two raised less: Bayelsa and Sokoto.
Bayelsa's fall is the large one. Page 6 of the report gives the state tax revenue of N49,998,266,100.25 and MDAs revenue, money raised by state ministries, departments and agencies, of N304,362,054.78, for a 2025 total of N50,302,628,155.03.
The spreadsheet's 2024 sheet, row 17, gives Bayelsa a 2024 total of N64,013,288,202.51. The difference is N13,710,660,047.48, a fall of 21.42 per cent, in a year when the national total rose by 40.93 per cent.
Almost all of the change sits in one line, Pay As You Earn, the income tax deducted from salaries. Bayelsa's PAYE was N55,231,543,206.04 in 2024 and N32,351,843,552.91 in 2025, according to row 29 of the 2025 sheet. That is N22,879,699,653.13 less, a fall of 41.42 per cent.
Other Bayelsa lines rose, which is why the total fell by less than PAYE did. Withholding tax went from N3,249,272,829.33 to N4,519,898,319.75, and "other taxes" from N4,605,796,892.69 to N12,313,854,117.76. MDAs revenue rose from N183,236,918.96 to N304,362,054.78.
The 2024 figure is itself the unusual one in the series. The Bureau's 2023 sheet gives Bayelsa PAYE of N14,065,810,776.66 and total IGR of N19,823,620,909.85. PAYE in 2024 was 3.93 times the 2023 figure. The 2025 figure, although lower, is still 2.30 times what the state reported for 2023, and Bayelsa's 2025 total is 2.54 times its 2023 total.
The record therefore supports two readings that the documents alone cannot choose between: a real drop in salary tax collected in 2025, or a 2024 figure that was out of line with the years either side of it. The methodology on page 3 says the figures are compiled by the Joint Revenue Board from submissions by the State Boards of Internal Revenue. Neither the report nor the spreadsheet carries a note on Bayelsa.
Sokoto's fall is small. Its 2024 total was N20,845,754,441.54 and its 2025 total N20,476,104,778.04, according to the two sheets: N369,649,663.50 less, or 1.77 per cent. Its PAYE rose, from N8,681,495,432.52 to N9,341,185,236.08; the fall came in "other taxes" and MDAs revenue. The page 4 highlights name Sokoto among the three states with the least revenue, at N20.48 billion.
The Bureau's national figures hold when the spreadsheet is added up. The 37 totals on the 2025 sheet sum to N5,149,040,235,770.33 and those on the 2024 sheet to N3,653,579,954,252.90, a rise of 40.93 per cent, as the report says. Bayelsa's 2025 components also add exactly to its published total.
Vero Record has not put questions to the Bayelsa State Board of Internal Revenue or the Joint Revenue Board. The documents do not say whether the 2024 PAYE figure included one-off or arrears collections, whether either year was later revised, or why the state's PAYE moved as it did.
What this rests on
NBS, Internally Generated Revenue at State Level (2025), September 2026: p.4 key highlights (N5.15tn, 40.93%, least revenues incl. Sokoto N20.48bn); p.6 Bayelsa panel; p.3 methodology. IGR_DATA_2019_2025.xlsx sheets 2023 (row 34), 2024 (rows 17, 37), 2025 (rows 29, 41). Arithmetic re-done: Bayelsa 2025 tax lines 32,351,843,552.91 + 452,947,950.83 + 70,921,509.47 + 278,483,498.39 + 10,317,151.14 + 4,519,898,319.75 + 12,313,854,117.76 + 0 = 49,998,266,100.25; + MDAs 304,362,054.78 = 50,302,628,155.03 (matches p.6). Bayelsa 2024 tax lines sum 63,830,051,283.55 + MDAs 183,236,918.96 = 64,013,288,202.51 (matches sheet). Fall 64,013,288,202.51 - 50,302,628,155.03 = 13,710,660,047.48 = 21.42%. PAYE 55,231,543,206.04 - 32,351,843,552.91 = 22,879,699,653.13 = 41.42%. PAYE ratios to 2023 (14,065,810,776.66): 3.93 (2024), 2.30 (2025). 2025 total / 2023 total 19,823,620,909.85 = 2.54. Sokoto 20,845,754,441.54 - 20,476,104,778.04 = 369,649,663.50 = 1.77%. National: 5,149,040,235,770.33 vs 3,653,579,954,252.90 = +40.93%. All 37 jurisdictions compared (FCT matched across sheet labels 'FCT' and 'FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY'); only Bayelsa and Sokoto lower.
What this does not establish
Why Bayelsa's PAYE rose nearly fourfold in 2024 and fell in 2025; whether either year includes arrears, one-off payments or reclassification; whether the figures have been revised; whether the state disputes them. No comment was sought from the Bayelsa or Sokoto revenue boards or the Joint Revenue Board.
What we did ourselves
Downloaded the NBS report and spreadsheet, matched all 37 jurisdictions between the 2024 and 2025 sheets, computed each change, re-added Bayelsa's components for both years and checked them against the PDF panel and the national totals.
Sources for this report
(A) National Bureau of Statistics, Internally Generated Revenue at State Level (2025) report and IGR_DATA_2019_2025.xlsx, September 2026
- Internally Generated Revenue at State Level (2025), report and data (IGR_2025.zip) · National Bureau of Statistics · September 2026
- File:Bypass road, Yenagoa Bayelsa State.jpg · Wikimedia Commons
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Dr VeroInvestigations editor, Vero Record
Reads the Nigerian public record that others leave unread: budgets, audit reports, court files and registers. Every claim on this page carries the grade of the document behind it, and the report says what that document does not establish.
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