A Cable Index report, culled from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), revealed that the southeast contributed only N79.2bn to the national Value Added Tax (VAT) pool, the least among the six Geopolitical zones in the country.
The report pegged Southeast’s contribution to the VAT pool at N79.2bn, while it received N230.89bn (291.28%) of the pool from the FAAC for the first half of 2026.
The Southwest contributed the most to the national pool, pouring in N2.16trn. They are closely followed by the South-South and North Central, which contributed N880.58bn and N302.81bn respectively.
The southeast, contributing the least, has raised questions among netizens who are either confused by the mathematics or wonder how the southeast, with its vast commercial footprint, will contribute the least to the national VAT pool.
The recent report on VAT contributions and allocations followed an earlier report on VAT generation by the 36 states in the country plus the FCT. Surprisingly, the Southeast recorded an abysmal performance, with the first state in the region on the list ranking 18th.
Lagos State Figures Bolstered by Other States
According to people familiar with the matter, Lagos State’s pole position stems from its being the country’s economic nerve centre, as it largely serves other regions. Service-based transactions occurring in other states, originating from companies headquartered in Lagos State, are also recorded for Lagos, hence the large disparity between Lagos State and other states on the list.
Ebenezer Ogbu, founder and Principal engineer at Sailgust Technologies, elaborated on this theory, citing various instances in which Lagos State benefits from VAT contributions from other states.
” Most of the headquarters of the companies we patronize in the SE have their HQ in Lagos.
” What this means is that all the Dangote cement we use in the SE, for example, all the VAT gets attributed to Lagos. Same as all the flights that we use to get into and out of the SE, maybe except Enugu Air.
” Now imagine all the other things we depend on Lagos for, like JAMB, the Seaport, International Travel, etc. All the VAT from SE citizens is attributed to Lagos. These are some of the reasons why you have a small VAT,” he shared on X.
The entire southeast region generated N79.27 billion in VAT for the first half of 2026, a mere 4.38% of what Lagos generated as a standalone state (N1.81 trillion).
Anambra, Ebonyi, and Imo states generated N24.55bn, N18.96bn, and N14.64bn in VAT, respectively. Enugu and Abia states followed suit, generating N12.35bn and N8.77bn in VAT from January to June 2026.
