The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has revealed that the debt burden of the 36 states has risen to over N3.342 trillion as of 2016.
Reports have it that this was contained in the third edition of NEITI Quarterly Review, which was summarized in a statement by the director of information, Ogbonnaya Orji.
NEITI’s legitimate interest in the debt profiles, revenue generation and management in Nigeria is as a result of the fact that over 70 percent of the revenues involved are derived from the extractive industry.
The review indicated that Lagos State had the highest debt followed by Delta, Osun and Akwa Ibom who all had a combined debt profile of of N1.262 trillion representing about 38% of debts owed by the 36 states. As at the end of 2016, Sokoto, Anambra and Yobe ha the least debt profiles.
The NEITI publication also expressed concern that “the total indebtedness of N3.342 trillion by the 36 states represented 55.15 percent of the 2016 budget of N6.06 trillion and 45.8 per cent of the 2017 budget estimates of about N7.3 trillion.” (Culled from The Cable). See full debt profiles below:
