Edo, Kaduna, Lagos named most indebted states in Nigeria

By Ameh Comrade Godwin

Lagos, Kaduna and Edo State are the most indebted states of the federation with a combined profile of $1.84bn.

The three states are under the control of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

According to statistics from the Debt Management Office in Abuja on Wednesday, the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory owe $3.65bn in foreign debts as against the $7.61bn owed by the Federal Government as of June 30, 2016; bringing the country’s total foreign debt to $11.26bn.

Governor Ambode of Lagos State (left) and his Edo State counterpart, Adams
Oshiomhole.

Lagos, which is the nation’s commercial hub, retained its topmost position as the most indebted state of the federation with a total of $1.43bn in foreign debts. Thus, the state holds 39.17 per cent of the country’s total sub-national foreign debts.

Kaduna State, with total foreign debt of $225.28m, comes in the second position. It holds 6.16 per cent of the sub-national foreign debts.

Edo State, with a total of $179.52m as of June 30, holds 4.91 per cent of the country’s sub-national foreign debts.

Other owing states in the sub-national foreign debts include Cross River, $141.47m or 3.87 per cent; and Ogun, $103.55m or 2.83 per cent.

Bauchi owes $97.23m or 2.66 per cent; Osun, $78.93m or 2.16 per cent; Adamawa, $77.14m or 2.11 per cent; Enugu, $74.46m or 2.04 per cent; Katsina, $68.99m or 1.89 per cent; and Oyo, $67.56m or 1.85 per cent.

Some of the least indebted states of the federation are Borno, $21.89m; Taraba, $23.01m; Plateau, $29.24m; Yobe, $29.28m; Jigawa, $32.62m; Kogi, $33.56m; Benue, $34.26; FCT, $34.8m; Zamfara, $35.07m; and Delta, $42.21m.

Punch reports that the 36 states of the federation and the FCT grew their external debts by $1.37tn in five years.

The external indebtedness of the sub-national governments as of December 31, 2010 stood at $2bn. However, by December 2015, it had risen to $3.37tn.

Earlier, DMO revealed that the nation’s current debt profile stands at N16.29tn.

·         Source: Daily Post