Financial Report: Abia, Benue, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, And 18-Other States Devote ₦251 Billion To Debt-Repayment In Nine-Month Span

Over the course of nine months since assuming office, twenty-two states have collectively disbursed ₦251.79 billion to service debts accumulated by preceding administrations.

According to Sunday PUNCH, the states obtained fresh loans of ₦310.99 billion between July 2023 and March 2024, despite increased monetary allocations from the Federation account.

The data was sourced from the budget implementation reports of individual states, accessed through Open Nigerian States, a budgIT-supported platform that acts as a repository for government budget information, with budgIT being a Nigerian civic organization advocating for transparency.

The performance report is compiled quarterly and released within four weeks following the conclusion of each quarter.

The report contains the original approved budget and revised/final budget appropriations for the year 2023 for each organizational unit, categorizing expenditures into core economic classifications including personnel, overheads, capital, and others.

Additionally, it incorporates the actual expenditures for quarter Q3, attributed to each organizational unit, along with the cumulative expenditures for the year to date, and balances against each of the revenue and expenditure appropriations.

An analysis conducted by Saturday PUNCH revealed that the states listed include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara.

Further examination of the report revealed that the states encountered a challenging endeavor to revitalize their respective economies, having inherited a minimum of ₦2.1 trillion in domestic debts and $1.9 billion in external debts from their predecessors.

Investigations also revealed that the states grappled with numerous months of unpaid workers’ salaries and increasing pension liabilities, amid calls for the implementation of the nationally agreed minimum wage.

Additionally, they faced challenges posed by rising inflation, soaring prices of goods and services, and declining purchasing power.

In Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, the sole governor under the Labour Party platform, inherited a total domestic debt of ₦104,573,334,025.73 and an external debt of $95,632,239.04.

Meanwhile, Benue State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, assumed office with ₦143,368,150,982.89 in domestic debt and $30,472,977.14 in foreign debt.

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State was burdened with ₦175,198,799,155.96 in domestic debt and $215,754,975.33 in foreign debt.

Similarly, Akwa Ibom State Governor, Umo Eno, was faced with a domestic debt of ₦219,617,660,991.63 and $46,569,647.22 in external debt, among other challenges.

Recall that after the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange markets, there was a significant rise in states’ earnings from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, totaling N3.34 trillion in the post-fuel subsidy era.

With the improved earnings, states had the autonomy to settle outstanding loans acquired by the previous administration, particularly during the third and fourth quarters of 2023.

This financial enhancement afforded the states the opportunity to address fiscal obligations and alleviate financial burdens inherited from previous administrations.