FACTS vs. NOISE: ABIA’S VAT COLLECTION JAN – JUNE 2026.
The recent NBS VAT Data Report placing Abia State last in VAT collection for Jan – June 2026 is being weaponized to push a false narrative of “No growth in Abia” by the usual suspects.
For the record, the same voice behind this criticism is the immediate past Commissioner for Finance who presided over months and years of unpaid salaries and pensions. Under Governor Alex Otti, OFR, all salary and pension arrears have been fully defrayed. In addition, the administration has scheduled the defrayment of over N60 Billion in accumulated gratuity owed since 2001, to be paid in tranches beginning soon.
It is therefore ironic that a less than average banker with no background in public finance, whose 8am to 5pm banking routine did not prepare him for the complexities of FAAC, is now exposing his emptiness and ignorance in his comedy to lecture a First Class Economics and an accomplished Financial Guru on revenue and productivity. As a former member of the Federation Account Allocation Committee, he ought to know that FAAC comprises multiple subheads, and that VAT is only one component. In his fixated cynicism, the worst former Abia Exchequer is using VAT remittances to measure productivity.
To put this in context, here is what the NBS VAT data actually captures:
- Corporate Registration, Not Consumption: NBS data reflects VAT remitted to FIRS by companies registered in a State, not VAT paid by citizens living in that State. States with corporate HQs like Lagos, FCT, and Rivers will always lead, even if Abians consume more.
- Informal Economy Factor: States with dominant informal economies and manufacturing hubs like Abia will appear “low” because most businesses are not yet in the formal tax net.
- Point of Taxation: Much of Abia’s commercial activity, especially in Aba, involves goods that were taxed at ports outside the State before arriving here.
The same NBS whose data is now being quoted by this attention seeking character was previously dismissed and discredited by the same former Commissioner when it ranked Abia first in public debt reduction and capital expenditure prioritization. At that time, he accused the independent Federal agency (NBS) of relying on “twisted data” supplied by Abia State. The progress of Abia aggravates his depression and nightmare.
The truth is simple: Yes, Abia’s captured Corporate VAT Remittance is relatively low. Comparatively, Abia before 2023 has never contributed up to N3 Billion annually to the national VAT pool. The reason is that our strength is in manufacturing and trade, not corporate HQs. And VAT is paid where companies file, not where goods are sold. The funny character pushing the twisted narrative knows all these but chooses to play to the gallery as a content creator and clown performing on a circus.
The focus of Governor Otti’s administration is on SMEs because 80% of Abia’s economy is informal.
While the Government welcomes large factories who can employ in large numbers, our model is to support 10,000 SMEs with 10 job opportunities each instead of waiting for one factory with 100 job opportunities. That is the Abia model. That is why ABIRS launched the “Formalization & Digitalization Drive” in Q1 2026. The goal is to bring all SMEs into the tax net without killing them. Like Governor Otti has often reiterated, “In Abia, tax is the Government’s share of the wealth it helped to create.” We do not tax what we have not empowered. First, we delivered power, roads, and markets. Now, we are moving to formalization. In Abia, the gap is not productivity. It is formalization and the Government has been putting in place policies to drive the process:
- Local Content: The Otti administration’s procurement law mandates 70% local content for contracts under N1bn. Contractors must maintain an office in Abia and pay taxes to ABIRS. The era of “Monday-Friday Lagos contractors” is over. All major road contractors now have active site offices in Aba and Umuahia.
- Workers’ Welfare and Purchasing Power: Governor Otti has cleared years of salary and pension arrears. Since December 2023, no civil servant earns below the N30,000 minimum wage. In July 2024, the State implemented the N70,000 new minimum wage. Salaries are now paid between the 26th and 28th monthly.
The Government has employed over 5,000 teachers and is onboarding 4,000 more. Over 800 health workers have been recruited and deployed to healthcare centers across the State. This increased disposable income, along with regular payment of salaries and pensions, is why markets in Aba and Umuahia are booming and stimulating the economy.
The State has set up a Joint VAT Monitoring Taskforce with FIRS to ensure VAT from sales in Abia is remitted to Abia. We are also onboarding 200,000 SMEs into the ABIRS database, with December 2026 as the target completion date.
Finally, let me bring it down to the understanding of the uninformed ordinary people. The First Lady of the Federation was in Abia yesterday and toured the Akwete Weaving Cooperative Society with the Governor and his wife. One takeaway from the visit if placed side by side with the NBS VAT Data is that the Akwete Cloth which caught the attention of the Mother of the Nation on NTA had no single input on Abia VAT remittances because that huge exclusive trade happens at the informal stage. How about the multi billion garment industry in Aba, the over 100,000 shoe makers in Aba, the fabrication clusters along Port-Harcourt Road, the daily multi billion trade in Ariaria International Market, Ekeoha Market, Cemetery Market, Ahia Ohuru, Jubilee, Azikiwe, School Roads, etc. Can the NBS VAT numbers diminish the production and trade happening daily at the above mentioned clusters and even more across the State? It is evident that VAT position is one data point. It is not the economy. The real barometer is: Are factories running? Are salaries paid? Are roads motorable? Is power on? Are markets busy? In Abia today, the answer to all five is YES. That is the New Abia.
We welcome data-driven criticism. But we will not allow half-truths to define us. The work continues.
Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State.
July 22, 2026.
