The Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed that Lagos, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states are the three most indebted states in Nigeria.
Collectively, the three states account for 29 per cent of Nigeria’s subnational domestic debt.
Date from DMO shows that while Lagos accounts for 13 per cent, representing N533.81 billion of Nigeria’s total subnational domestic debt, Akwa Ibom accounts for N247.27 billion or 6 percent and Rivers accounts for N213.17 billion or 5 percent.
According to DMO, subnational domestic debt rose to N4.12 trillion in the second quarter of 2021 and overall, Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N35.46 trillion at the end of the second quarter (Q2), representing a N2.36 trillion increase compared to the N33.10 trillion recorded in March 2021 (Q1)
Other states with high domestic debts are Delta, Cross River and Ogun with N205.92 billion, 161.55 billion and 155.57 billion, respectively.
Bayelsa’s debt balance amounted to N150.61 billion, Imo N149.51 billion and Osun state N133.36 billion.
On the other hand, states like Jigawa and Ebonyi are the least indebted as their debt stocks stood at N32.60 billion and 43.39 billion. They are followed by the federal capital territory (FCT) with domestic debts of 52.71 billion and Kebbi State with N52.93 billion.
Geographically, the South-West region has a domestic debt burden of N1.07 trillion, accounting for 26 per cent followed by the oil-rich region of the South-south accounting for 26 percent (N1.05 trillion), while the North-central has a total of N580.24 billion, accounting for 14 per cent of the total debt.
The North-west has a debt burden of N517.43 billion or 13 per cent, followed by the North-east N515.19 billion or 12 per cent and South-east N386.46 billion or 9 per cent, which is the zone with the least debt burden.
