An Examination of the Methods of Revenue Generation by Kwara State Internal Revenue Services (KWIRS) From Islamic Law Perspective

One of the objectives of the state as a political entity or a social contract is to ensure and guarantee the welfare and protection of the lives and property of its citizens. The government of the state is usually responsible for this and to achieve this, there is a need for the government to make certain expenses. Hence, it becomes necessary for the state to have the financial resources and capacity to fund its various projects and achieve its objectives. These financial resources of the state are referred to as revenue, and its importance to a state cannot be overemphasized. Nigeria is a state with a pluralistic legal system. Legal pluralism in Nigeria appears to be quite composite and complicated taking three distinct form. The first form, which is relevant to this research work, is the legal pluralism arising from the different legal cultures/ traditions present in the country which make up our Legal system. The major sources of the Nigerian laws are from three different systems of laws i.e. the Customary Law, Islamic Law and English Law. Customary law can be described as being native with each of the various ethnic groups possessing its own distinct customary law. Islamic law was already popular and became a state law in the Kanem - Bornu and Sokoto Caliphate states which now constitute the northern Nigeria, including Kwara State, since the end of the 18th century. English Law on the other hand, owe its presence in our legal system to colonialism and includes both the Received English laws and the Extended English laws. It is against this background that this research work seeks to examine the various methods of revenue generation by the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service, the sole body charged with the responsibility of revenue administration on behalf of the State Government in Kwara State, which is based largely on the English Conventional law and compare it with the Islamic law system of revenue generation. Thus, using various research methodologies, this work identifies the relevant methods of revenue generation under the Islamic law that can be adopted by Kwara State Internal Revenue Services as well as examines the possibility and practicability of its adoption and recommendations are made herein to facilitate same.