Nigeria's revenues in February fall to $1.73B

"There was revenue loss of $45.9 million as a result of a drop in average prices of crude oil from $39.04 in December 2015 to $29.02 in January 2016," the ministry said in a statement.

"Also a substantial drop in income was recorded from oil and gas royalty, companies' income tax and import duty," it said.

The revenue includes VAT, refunds from state oil firm NNPC and exchange gains, the statement said. It will be distributed to the federal, state and local authorities.

Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer and biggest economy, relies on crude sales for about 70 percent of its government revenues.

Global crude prices have fallen sharply since mid-2014, hurting the country's public funds and leaving many states unable to pay public salaries in time or fund infrastructure projects and other state services.