Awareness of Nigeria’s new tax reforms, already effective since the turn of the new year, varies sharply across states according to new research from The FATE Institute, highlighting a steep gap in policy communication and outreach.
This data, sourced from the 2025 State of Entrepreneurship Survey, covered 10,882 businesses across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Kogi State, with 96.8 percent awareness among entrepreneurs, has become a fertile ground for the new tax framework. Trailing behind are Bauchi (72.3%) and Kano (70.4%).
Other states with relatively high awareness include Taraba (69.8%), Ebonyi (69.2%), Borno (68.3%), and the FCCT (64.9%). Rounding up the top ten are Katsina (63.6%), Nasarawa (60.1%), and Bayelsa (58.6%).
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Lagos was ranked 13th with a 49.7 percent awareness rate, despite being the centre of Nigeria’s commercial environment. Also clustering around the national midpoint are Adamawa (54.1%), Kwara (50.3%), Plateau (48.9%), and Niger (44.9%). Oyo (42.4%), Osun (39.8%), and Kebbi (38.0%) fell below 40 percent, suggesting limited reach of reform-related information.
Low tax reform awareness was more visible in states with large populations and economic activity. Benue (36.8%), Zamfara (35.8%), Yobe (35.5%), Kaduna (35.2%), Sokoto (34.6%), and Cross River (34.1%) all recorded similar levels.
In the South-East and South-South, awareness remained relatively low in Enugu (32.7%), Ondo (32.6%), Rivers (29.5%), Anambra (29.4%), Ogun (28.5%), and Delta (28.5%).
The lowest awareness levels were recorded in Akwa Ibom (17.5%), Ekiti (15.6%), and Imo (13.9%). Gombe (12.8%), Edo (11.8%), and Jigawa (11.7%) followed, while Abia ranked last with 1.4 percent awareness, indicating minimal exposure to information about the reform.
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The awareness level is a scoreboard that points to the uneven dissemination of information across states, despite efforts from media houses and the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. This has led to widespread misinformation and what Oyedele has called “unnecessary panic.”
The findings spotlight the importance of broad-based engagement and consistent messaging to ensure that entrepreneurs across all states understand the changes and make room for compliance.