Domestic debt: Lagos, Delta, Ogun, Rivers lead as states borrow N5.28 trillion

Lagos, Delta and Ogun are the three states with the highest domestic debt figures in Nigeria as of June 30, 2022, DAILY POST has learned.

According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), many states borrowed more between the first and second quarters of 2022. As of March, all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory had debt interior of N4,842,838,992,386.22. However, this increased to N5,281,277,033,703.91 at the end of June.

At the time of the review, Lagos State has borrowed a total of N797,305,312,602.53. This shows that Lagos' debt profile has increased from N780,476,880,563.06 as of March 31, 2022.

Furthermore, Delta State's outstanding debt soared during the three-month period. From N163,478,454,259.54 in March this year, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa's administration increased Delta's domestic debt to N378,878,236,830.76. This represents an increase of more than 100% from March to June of this year.

Ogun, on the other hand, owes a total of N241,782,021,304.96. Despite being among the three most indebted states, Ogun's debt figure has fallen slightly from the 241,979,216,147.55 naira it was in March.

A document released by the Debt Management Office indicates that Rivers is fourth with a debt stock of N225,505,011,356.55. The DMO said the debt figure for Rivers State was as of September 30, 2021. No reason was given for the South-South State's refusal to update its debt profile a year ago. over a year.

DAILY POST reports that Imo State, with a domestic debt of N210,394,836,519.93, is the fifth. The state borrowed more as the DMO report shows Imo's debt figure was N204,612,397,430.39 in March.

Akwa Ibom is sixth on the list, having borrowed a total of 203,951,611,822.07 naira. This is a slight increase from the N203,112,373,546.77 it had in the first quarter of the year.

It has been established that Cross River has a debt profile of N176,086,197,586; Oyo borrowed N159,906,877,910; Osun and Bayelsa owe N150 billion each, while Plateau and Benue State owe N144.60 billion and N143.54 billion respectively, at the time of the review.

In the same vein, Bauchi borrowed up to N129 billion; Kano, N125 billion; Gombe, N123.6 billion; Adamaoua, 120.6 billion naira; Ekiti, N119.5 billion; Zamfara, N115.7 billion; Edo, N112.1 billion; Kwara, N110.5 billion; Abia, 107.6 billion naira and Borno, 102.4 billion naira.

Furthermore, Yobe State has over N96.6 billion as domestic debt profile; Taraba, N90.8 billion; Kogi has N90.5 billion; Sokoto has 89.9 billion naira; Enugu, N89.9 billion; Niger, N80.9 billion; Kaduna, N78.1 billion; FCT has 75.7 billion naira; Nasarawa, N72.9 billion and Anambra, N72.4 billion.

DAILY POST notes that Jigawa is the state with the lowest debt profile having borrowed a sum of N45,135,377,621.30. However, Jigawa's debt profile also increased by more than 3 billion naira between March and June 2022. In March, Jigawa's domestic debt was 41,629,971,249.71 naira.

Jigawa is followed by Ebonyi with 59.1 billion naira; Kebbi, N60.4 billion; Ondo with 62.2 billion naira and Katsina with 66.6 billion naira.

Meanwhile, many Nigerians have continued to seek explanations of the modes of borrowing these loans, the repayment plans and the purpose for which the money is borrowed.