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Digital Revenue Governance and Subnational Fiscal Autonomy in Nigeria: Insights from the 2025 Tax Reform Framework
Subject area: Management and Commerce · Area of research: Public Financial Management
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714374
Abstract
Nigeria’s multi-tier fiscal system remains constrained by weak own-source revenue mobilisation and heavy reliance on federal transfers. This study analyses Nigeria’s 2025 Tax Reform Framework to examine how digitalisation is repositioned as a core instrument of revenue governance. Drawing on statutory analysis and comparative decentralisation literature, the article develops a conceptual framework linking digital revenue governance to subnational fiscal autonomy through three mechanisms: revenue visibility, administrative capacity, and accountability. The findings indicate that instruments such as the Single Tax Window, e-invoicing, and automated data sharing improve transaction transparency, reduce administrative inefficiencies, and strengthen auditability, with implications for fiscal predictability at subnational levels. However, infrastructural gaps, legal ambiguities, uneven institutional readiness, and data-governance risks constrain reform outcomes. The study argues that sustainable fiscal autonomy requires legal harmonisation, inclusive intergovernmental data protocols, and sustained subnational capacity development.
Keywords
Digital Revenue Governance, Fiscal Decentralisation, Nigeria Tax Reform, Public Finance Management, Subnational Fiscal Autonomy
How to cite this paper
@article{1714374,
author = {Patrick Edet Akinninyi},
title = {Digital Revenue Governance and Subnational Fiscal Autonomy in Nigeria: Insights from the 2025 Tax Reform Framework},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {8},
pages = {1157-1168},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1714374.pdf},
abstract = {Nigeria’s multi-tier fiscal system remains constrained by weak own-source revenue mobilisation and heavy reliance on federal transfers. This study analyses Nigeria’s 2025 Tax Reform Framework to examine how digitalisation is repositioned as a core instrument of revenue governance. Drawing on statutory analysis and comparative decentralisation literature, the article develops a conceptual framework linking digital revenue governance to subnational fiscal autonomy through three mechanisms: revenue visibility, administrative capacity, and accountability. The findings indicate that instruments such as the Single Tax Window, e-invoicing, and automated data sharing improve transaction transparency, reduce administrative inefficiencies, and strengthen auditability, with implications for fiscal predictability at subnational levels. However, infrastructural gaps, legal ambiguities, uneven institutional readiness, and data-governance risks constrain reform outcomes. The study argues that sustainable fiscal autonomy requires legal harmonisation, inclusive intergovernmental data protocols, and sustained subnational capacity development.},
keywords = {Digital Revenue Governance, Fiscal Decentralisation, Nigeria Tax Reform, Public Finance Management, Subnational Fiscal Autonomy},
month = {February},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I8-1714374}
}