During their initial six months in office, 13 newly appointed state governors collectively obtained N226.8 billion from both internal and external lenders. This revelation emerged from a recent analysis conducted by Drivetvnews, which also indicated that 16 state governors augmented their states’ debt profiles by N509.3 billion, comprising N243.95 billion from domestic sources and $298.5 million (equivalent to N265.37 billion) from foreign sources. The calculation of the external debt was based on the exchange rate of N889 per dollar utilized by the Debt Management Office in its report. These findings were derived from an examination of the latest sub-national debt reports released by the DMO.
The sub-national debts are categorized into domestic borrowings from local creditors and external borrowings from international entities such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The data on domestic and external debts, as published on the DMO’s website, pertained to the periods ending December 30 and June 30, 2023, respectively.
Among the states, including Benue, Cross Rivers, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory, N115.57 billion was sourced from domestic creditors. Meanwhile, governors of Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara states acquired $125.1 million (equivalent to N111.24 billion) from external sources.
Further analysis of the data revealed that Governor Bassey Otu of Cross Rivers obtained the highest loan, amounting to N16.2 billion from domestic lenders and $57.95 million from foreign creditors between June and December 2023. Katsina State followed suit with its debt escalating from N62.37 billion to N99.3 billion by December 2023, marking an increase of N36.93 billion. Similarly, Niger State’s debt surged from N121.95 billion in June 2023 to N139.8 billion by December of the same year, with a domestic debt of N17.85 billion.
In terms of foreign debt, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State accrued an external debt of $37.54 million, while Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State borrowed $17.69 million from external financiers. The trend of borrowing persists despite declarations by the administration of President Bola Tinubu that it would not continue the extensive borrowing practices of the previous government to fund its expenditures. This latest development indicates that the new government is maintaining the controversial policy amidst increased revenue.
In 2023, state governors received the highest allocations from the Federal Account Allocation Committee in at least seven years. This increase in FAAC allocations to the three tiers of government, particularly the states, followed the removal of petrol subsidies and currency reforms by the Tinubu administration, reportedly resulting in a 40% boost in income. Analysis of the 2023 FAAC monthly allocations revealed that sub-national and local government councils received the highest allocation of N627.73 billion in September, followed by N610.5 billion in December, N555.75 billion in August, N533 billion in November, N514 billion in July, and N497.97 billion in October.
