Lagos Revenue Rises by 45% to N1.3trn in 2024

•To convert idle assets to liquidity, fund infrastructure development, says finance commissioner

Segun James

Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Abayomi Oluyomi, has disclosed that the State recorded a significant growth in its revenue which rose by 45 percent to N1.3 trillion in 2024, compared with the N895 billion recorded in 2023.

Abayomi disclosed this while giving a report at the annual ministerial briefing on the activities of his ministry between 2024 and 2025, to mark the second year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat’s administration.

The Commissioner also said N14 billion was generated from Land Use Charge in 2024, a 37 percent increase compared with 2023.

He said that local rating agencies had rated the State at A1 + while the Fitch Ratings put the State at AAA

He further said 800,000 properties in the State are on the State government’s database, but lamented that several property owners were owing the State property tax.

He explained: “Driven by strategic reforms and innovative financial practices, Lagos State has continued to set the pace in revenue generation. We closed 2024 with a record-breaking N1.3 trillion, a significant jump from the N895 billion generated in the previous year, representing a 45 percent increase.”

Oluyomi put the State’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at $259 billion, which makes it to remain not just Nigeria’s economic hub, but Africa’s largest sub-national economy.

On the debt standing of the State, Abayomi said the state’s debt-service-to-revenue ratio of 19.2 percent was the lowest in the country, while the State recorded a total-debt-to-GDP ratio of 3.83 percent and a total-debt-to-revenue ratio of 172 percent in 2024.

As a way of generating more revenue, the commissioner said the government would convert its N3 billion worth of property lying idle into money money-making investment.

He added that N67.9 billion was paid to 20,956 retirees between 2024 and 2025, while N290.43 million was received from insurers for damages to public infrastructure.

Abayomi noted that out of the three million tax payers on the state’s database, only 700,000 Lagosians pay tax.

He urged Lagosians to pay their taxes, adding that the State government was going to use creative ways to generate more money and ensure more Lagosians pay tax.

He said in 2025, the State would launch the Lagos State Economic Summit and Lagos State Sovereign Wealth Fund.