IgbereTV reports that a document from Debt Management Offices Analysis of the 2019 edition of states unveiled in Abuja yesterday, showed that 36 states in Nigeria have accumulated a domestic debt of N3.6trn as they struggled to generate N1.1trn in 2018.
The document showed that the borrowing surpassed the earning from internally generated Revenue (IGR) by N2.5trn.
Lagos State generated the highest IGR of N382.18bn, its domestic debt was higher at N530bn.
Rivers State was second with N112.8bn IGR and N225.6bn debt. Ogun generated N84.6bn, but incurred N78.7bn debt, Delta and Kano States had N228.8bn and N117bn debts, but they earned only N58.4bn and N44.1bn during the year respectively. Domestic debts for Niger, Sokoto, Jigawa, Anambra and Yobe States accrued to N176.9bn. however, the IGR for the five states was a paltry N62.1bn. The report also showed the federal allocation and receipts by the states in the first half of 2019. The 36 states combined got N1.1trn from the FAAC allocation with Delta receiving the highest of N108.7bn. While Akwa Ibom collected N86.3bn, Rivers, Bayelsa and Lagos States received N75.8bn, N65.6bn and N58bn respectively. Osun state received the lowest allocation of N10bn; and Cross River, N17bn.
The principal lead of BudgIT, Gabriel Okeowo, while briefing journalists, said that the cause of the debt is that over the years, states had been spending so much on recurrent expenditures which brought them no economic benefits.
