Contending Issues in Tax Contracting for Revenue Generation in Nigeria

Abstract

The global fall in the price of crude oil was disastrous for the Nigerian government and it provoked crisis of monumental proportion due to her inability to diversify her economy and the consequent overdependence on oil revenue. This necessitated the various governments at all levels in Nigeria to seek for ways of enhancing their internally generated revenue. In an attempt to realize this objective, privatization of the revenue collection rights became endemic in all tiers of government and orchestrated issues of various dimensions. This paper unveils the asymmetric symbiotic nexus between the ‘patrons’ and the ‘brokers’ in Nigeria’s tax contracting system as support extended to the state chief executives during electioneering periods is being reciprocated in the form of allocation of the revenue collection rights at the detriment of the local populace. Employing clientelism as a framework for analysis and relying heavily on the secondary source of data collection, this paper explores the contending issues raised by tax contracting in Nigeria.