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By Godswill Michael
Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government remitted a combined ₦4,945,143,177.87 to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) now Nigeria Revenue Service between February and March 2026.
An analysis of remittance records obtained on Thursday from Govspend shows that the payments, largely tied to Value Added Tax (VAT), withholding tax deductions, and statutory levies, were made across multiple MDAs, with a handful accounting for the bulk of contributions.
Leading the chart is the Federal Co-operative College, Oji River, which remitted about ₦1.46 billion, followed closely by the Federal Ministry of Works with approximately ₦1.35 billion.
Other major contributors include:
Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu – ₦565.53 million (tax deductions and VAT on contracts), Police Formations and Commands – ₦304.47 million (VAT and statutory deductions on procurement payments) Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital – ₦146.20 million (withholding tax and VAT remittances)
Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe – ₦141.01 million (contract-related tax obligations)
Energy Commission of Nigeria – ₦139.72 million (VAT and project-linked deductions)
Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Abuja – ₦128.29 million (statutory tax remittances), Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority – ₦113.67 million (withholding tax on executed projects)
Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (Headquarters) – ₦87.38 million (VAT and contractor deductions)
Breakdowns of individual transactions indicate that many of the remittances were linked to payments to contractors and service providers, where MDAs deducted VAT, typically at 7.5 per cent and withholding tax before forwarding the funds to FIRS, in line with public finance regulations.
The remittances come at a time when Nigeria is intensifying efforts to expand its tax base amid mounting fiscal pressures, rising public debt, and declining oil revenue reliability.
Recent reforms, including proposed tax harmonisation measures and stricter enforcement of remittance compliance, have placed MDAs under increased scrutiny to ensure timely transfer of collected taxes. The government has repeatedly flagged revenue leakages within public institutions as a major constraint to fiscal sustainability.
NRS has also ramped up monitoring mechanisms, integrating digital payment tracking and strengthening inter-agency coordination to ensure that taxes deducted at source are fully remitted.