From Analog Ledgers to Civic Algorithms: Tracing Enugu State's Revenue Digitization Journey (2015–2025)

Enugu State's internally generated revenue (IGR) trajectory between 2015 and 2025 represents one of the most dramatic fiscal transformations recorded in Nigerian subnational governance history. This paper critically examines the institutional, technological, political-economic, and governance dimensions of that transformation, from a manual, contractor-dominated revenue administration generating approximately ₦9.4 billion annually in 2015 to a digitally-mediated, platform-governed fiscal system that produced ₦406.77 billion in 2025. Drawing on official government publications, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) longitudinal data, World Bank public financial management frameworks, legislative records, academic literature in e-governance and fiscal sociology, and independent investigative reporting, the study employs a mixed institutional-historical-analytical methodology to assess the causes, processes, and consequences of revenue digitization across three identifiable reform waves. The paper advances four principal arguments. First, the abolition of cash collection and expulsion of revenue contractors in August 2023, rather than any single technology deployment, constituted the pivotal structural reform. Second, the Unified E-Ticket Scheme transformed the informal sector fiscal relationship, growing market and transport revenue from under ₦100 million to ₦5.8 billion in two years. Third, while digitization reforms are genuine and measurable, the dominant driver of headline IGR growth (87.4 percent) is non-tax revenue from natural resource monetization and state asset revival, analytically distinct from tax system improvement. Fourth, accountability infrastructure, institutional depth, and digital inclusion strategies have not kept pace with the velocity of revenue mobilization reform. The paper situates Enugu's experience within comparative frameworks (Lagos, Kaduna, Rwanda, Kenya) and theoretical frameworks of digital statecraft, algorithmic governance, fiscal sociology, and new institutionalism. It concludes with nine evidence-based findings and twelve structured policy recommendations for Enugu, the Federal Government, and the broader community of subnational reformers in Africa. Journal: International Journal of Advanced Economics and Sustainable Development Publisher: AIR Journal ISSN: 2766-2659 Published in International Journal of Advanced Economics and Sustainable Development by AIR Journal