Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Akwa Ibom Lead As States’ Debts Hit N6.43 Trillion

The Debt Management Office (DMO) report has revealed that the domestic debts owed by state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration rose to N6.43 trillion at the end of 2021, while sub-national domestic debt stock was N4.46 trillion, and sub-national external debt stock was N1.97 trillion in 2021.

The data from the report says that Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Imo emerged as the five most indebted states, with a combined debt stock of about N1.56 trillion as at December 2021.

As of December 31, 2021, the five states accounted for 34.98 percent of the total domestic debt owed by the country's sub-national governments.

As of Q4 2021, Lagos owed Ogun N232.62 billion, Rivers N225.51billion, Akwa Ibom N214.61billion, and Imo N205.19 billion.

Other states with high domestic debts include Cross River, with a debt of N159.82 billion; Delta, N154.61billion; Bayelsa, N154.61billion; Plateau, N150.5 billion; Oyo, N142.56 billion; and Osun, N134.70 billion.

A breakdown of the domestic debt stock of N23.70 trillion revealed that the domestic debt of N4.46 trillion made up 11.27 percent of the country’s domestic debt stock, up from N20.21 trillion of the previous year.

Others are Benue, with a domestic debt stock of N128.35 billion; Kano, N111.9 billion; Zamfara, N99.94 billion; Adamawa, N99.55 billion; Bauchi, N97.51billion; Borno, N95.63 billion; Abia, N95.21billion; Kwara, N93.37 billion; and Taraba, N93.18 billion.

The states with the least domestic debt stock include Jigawa, with a debt of N31.36 billion; Ebonyi, N42.16 billion; FCT, N50.65 billion; Kebbi, N52.33 billion; Nasarawa, N54.1billion; Anambra, N55.72 billion; and Kaduna, N61.71billion; Enugu, N69.17 billion; and Gombe, N69.13 billion.

Kogi has N70.66 billion, Sokoto has N71.29 billion, Edo has N78.9 billion, Niger has N83.4 billion, and Yobe has N82.46 billion.

In foreign debt, Lagos leads with $1.33 billion, followed by Kaduna ($595.12 million), Cross River ($279.71million), and Edo State ($276.3 million).