Lagos, Ogun Top List of Highest Indebted States in Nigeria, Taking Total Dometic Debts to N4.46 Trillion

• Lagos State is the chief debtor in Nigeria followed by its neighbour, Ogun State with a combined domestic debt totalling N232.62 billion
• They are closely followed by Imo State to take the total national domestic debt to N4.46 trillion as of December 31 2021
• Delta and Rivers states are the least indebted states that have witnessed a decline in domestic borrowings

Lagos State is leading the pack of 10 most indebted states in Nigeria followed by Ogun State with the highest domestic debts as of December 31, 2022. This accounts for 25.1 per cent at N1.2 trillion of the total debts by states.

Dometic borrowings by the 36 states in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory rose by N272.23 billion in 2021 to stand at N4.46 trillion in comparison with 4.18 trillion recorded at the same time last year, data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) says.

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Imo join Lagos, Ogun in the top 10

The data also shows that Lagos, Ogun, Imo states had the highest year-to-year increase in terms of the domestic debt profile with Lagos State owing to the tune of N658.98 billion and its neighbour, Ogun with a local debt of N232.62 billion, a Nairametrics report says.

On the other hand, Delta and Rivers State recorded the highest reduction in debt profile.

Domestic debts by geo-political zones

Geo-politically, southwest states top the chart with a domestic debt of N1.34 trillion, bringing it to 30 per cent of the total debt as of the end of the year in review.

South-south is next with a domestic debt profile of N988.1 billion.

The southeast recorded the lowest domestic debts as of December 2021, with N467.45 billion closely followed by the Northwest region with N495.19 billion. Notably, of all the geo-political zone.

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See the breakdown below:

Lagos State – N658.96 billion

Ogun State – N232.62 billion

Rivers State – N225.51 billion

Akwa Ibom – N214.61 billion

Odinkalu: Nigeria's public debt profile has tripled in 7 years

Meanwhile. Legit.ng reported that rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu, said Nigeria’s debt profile has increased three times in the last seven years, that is since Muhammadu Buhari mounted the saddle as Nigeria’s president.

Odinkalu said this in a tweet but did not expatiate as he only provided an undated chat from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Odinkalu may not be an economist but available data from Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s debt profile has soared to about N35.65 trillion recently because of increased borrowing by Buhari's government.

Source: Legit.ng