The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has taken over the collection of mineral royalties from January 1, 2026, following new tax legislation signed by President Bola Tinubu on June 26, 2025. This shift was confirmed in a joint statement by Dele Alake, minister of solid minerals development, and Zacch Adedeji, NRS chairman, after a meeting in Abuja to align both agencies on implementation. Under the new framework, the NRS will handle all revenue collection, while the ministry retains technical and regulatory duties such as providing mineral pricing data, geological information, and industry coordination. The change is part of broader reforms in the Nigeria Tax Laws 2025, aimed at centralising federal revenue collection under one agency to improve compliance and boost income from the mining sector.
A digital, end-to-end royalty administration system will support the new process, with regular technical meetings between the NRS and the ministry to resolve operational issues. Mining operators will face stricter compliance requirements, including new filing and payment procedures. The government plans a nationwide campaign to educate operators on the updated regime. Officials say the collaboration will enhance transparency and reduce revenue leakages in a sector that has historically underperformed relative to Nigeria's mineral wealth.
The handover of mineral royalty collection to the NRS places Dele Alake's ministry in a backseat role despite its direct oversight of the sector's operations. With Tinubu's administration centralising revenue under the NRS, the real test lies in whether this bureaucratic reshuffle translates to actual revenue gains. Given that Nigeria's solid minerals sector contributed just 0.3% to GDP in 2023, the move may change who collects the money, but won't fix weak infrastructure or illegal mining. Without tackling those, even the most efficient tax agency will have little to collect.
