By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 11 (Radarr Africa) – Twenty-three of the 30 largest companies on the Nigerian Exchange paid N3.412 trillion in income tax in the nine months to September 2026, an increase of 73.31% from N1.968 trillion in the same period of 2025, an analysis of their financial statements shows.
Aradel Holdings was the biggest single taxpayer, with N690.32 billion, up from about N40 billion a year earlier. Its profit before tax rose 154.32%. A company executive attributed the jump to higher petroleum tax rates under the old regime that apply to the newly consolidated ND Western and Renaissance operations.
Seplat Energy followed with N685.76 billion, up 46.12%. GTCO paid N349.38 billion, a rise of 41.42%, even though its profit before tax fell 2.32%. Ecobank paid N331.59 billion, up 11.70%.
MTN Nigeria paid N295.36 billion, against N21.55 billion a year earlier, a rise of 1,270.58%, while its profit before tax grew 59.40%. The company’s chief financial officer linked the increase to higher taxable profits and to the normalisation of temporary differences that had reduced its cash tax payments the previous year.
By sector, oil and gas companies paid N1.376 trillion, or 40.33% of the total. Banking and financial services followed with N1.323 trillion (38.77%), telecoms with N295.36 billion (8.66%), industrial goods with N258.73 billion (7.58%), consumer goods with N98.22 billion (2.88%) and agriculture with N55.19 billion (1.62%).
The figures cover the first nine months under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, which took effect on January 1, 2026. The Act left the corporate income tax rate at 30% but introduced a consolidated 4% development levy that replaces several separate charges, and a minimum effective tax rate for qualifying companies.
Tax expert Yvonne Afolabi said the increase mainly reflects better profitability among the companies. She noted that the numbers also highlight how narrow Nigeria’s tax base remains, because a small group of large companies carries a large share of the total rather than a significant expansion in the number of contributing businesses.
The total covers 23 of the 30 companies in the NGX 30 index. The concentration is visible in the ranking: Aradel and Seplat, the two producers at the top of the list, together paid N1.376 trillion, which is more than the whole banking sector’s N1.323 trillion.
