DAILY POST
Some States in Nigeria borrowed about N200 billion as domestic debts at the first quarter of the year.
DAILY POST reports that January to March 2023 were significant months in the nation’s political history.
Campaigns and politicking got to their peak in January; the presidential and National Assembly elections were held on February 25, while the governorship and state assembly polls were conducted on March 18.
As governors were moving from one place to another for campaigns, some of them were also borrowing for reasons best known to individual States.
Delta, Niger, Ogun and Edo States emerged the top borrowers in this first quarter of 2023, incurring over N180 billion, according to data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in its report.
According to the DMO, Delta State alone borrowed up to N117bn as its debt profile rose from N304,245,915,945.65 in December 2022 to N421,776,084,974.72 in March 2023.
It was gathered that Adamawa State got a loan of over N6bn in the period under review. The State’s debt profile grew higher from N124,000,573,916.51 in the last quarter of 2022 to N130,978,200,452.33 three months after.
The Lagos State government added N5bn more to its debt profile, increasing from N807,208,634,237.88 to N812,383,923,050.01 at the end of March.
DAILY POST reports that each of Sokoto and the Federal Capital Territory borrowed N3bn each in the period being examined; jerking up their debt figures to N93,707,999,936.88 and N84,773,760,127.36 respectively.
Also, Bauchi and Enugu added about N1bn each to their debts. From 91,856,182,849.75 in December 2022, Enugu now owes N92,688,975,881.26. Bauchi, which had 143,638,075,199.37 debt figure in 2022, now owes N144,542,559,993.41.
It was observed that while some States continued to borrow during the electioneering period, others made efforts to pay back parts of their debts.
States like Zamfara, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Gombe, Yobe, Kogi, Borno, Kaduna, Osun and others have reductions in their debt stocks in March 2023, compared to December 2022.
Highest debtors
From the DMO report, it is disclosed that Lagos State currently remains the most indebted State in Nigeria, with N812,383,923,050.01 debt profile.
Lagos State is followed by Delta, whose debt figure soared to N421,776,084,974.72 in March 2023.
Ogun State comes third with N293bn; Rivers follow with N225bn; Akwa Ibom has N206bn, while Imo is owing N202bn.
DAILY POST reports that Cross River owes N196bn; Oyo, N161bn; Plateau, N148bn; Osun, N147bn; Bauchi, N144bn; Benue, N141bn; Bayelsa, N140bn and Adamawa, N130bn.
Meanwhile, Jigawa is the State with the lowest domestic debt figure at the moment, owing a sum of N43bn.
Kebbi states comes after Jigawa with N60bn domestic debt figure, as Katsina parades N62bn.
The DMO said Nasarawa owes N71bn; Ondo, N75.5bn; Ebonyi, N75.8bn; Anambra, N77bn; Kaduna, N80bn; FCT, N84bn; and Yobe, N88bn.
