ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has urged the Federal Government to undertake a comprehensive and transparent review of all revenue deduction frameworks to ensure accountability, justification, and full public disclosure.
The Country Director of AAN, Mr Andrew Mamedu, made the call in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
Mamedu was reacting to recent World Bank findings that over 40 per cent of Nigeria’s federal revenue in recent years had been deducted before distribution to the federal, state, and local governments.
He said the development reinforces long-standing concerns over Nigeria’s widening fiscal constraints, rising debt burden, and persistent challenges in public financial management.
According to him, more than N34 trillion was deducted during the period under review.
Mamedu noted that although revenue has grown in recent years, rising deductions have significantly reduced the resources available for public investment.
“This widening gap between gross earnings and distributed revenue continues to constrain development financing and increase reliance on borrowing to sustain public expenditure.
“If a significant share of the estimated 41 per cent of revenue currently absorbed through deductions had been transparently accounted for and efficiently deployed, Nigeria’s dependence on borrowing could have been substantially reduced.
“This is particularly critical given International Monetary Fund projections that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio will rise to 33.1 per cent by 2027.
“The persistence of large-scale revenue leakages therefore represents both a governance failure and a missed opportunity to strengthen fiscal stability and curb debt accumulation,” he said.
He stressed the need for the government to act decisively to reform the system, ensure full public disclosure, and prioritize citizens’ needs.
Mamedu warned that the continued expansion of unchecked deductions poses a direct threat to equitable development, fiscal stability, and public trust.
According to him, without urgent reforms, the country risks entrenching a system where public resources are eroded before delivering meaningful impact, while citizens bear the burden of declining services and rising hardship.
He called for the immediate publication of detailed breakdowns of all deductions, strengthened independent oversight of revenue-generating agencies, and urgent reforms to eliminate inefficiencies, opacity, and systemic leakages.
“AAN also demands an independent forensic audit and public review of all deduction mechanisms to restore public confidence in fiscal governance and ensure that national resources are managed strictly in the public interest.
“We urge the National Assembly to strengthen its constitutional oversight role through regular public hearings and rigorous scrutiny of deduction structures, their legal basis, and developmental impact.
“Sub-national governments must also play a more assertive role in demanding transparency and accountability within the federation’s revenue system, while civil society, the media, and citizens should intensify independent scrutiny of public financial management.
“Nigeria’s development trajectory depends not only on revenue generation but, fundamentally, on the integrity, transparency, and equity with which public resources are governed, allocated, and deployed for the collective good,” he said.
