The domestic debt stock of the 36 states in Nigeria, including the federal capital territory rose to N4.84 trillion in the first quarter of 2022, representing an 8.6 per cent increase compared to N4.46 trillion recorded as of the previous quarter.
This is according to information released by the Debt Management Office (DMO). On a year-on-year basis, the debt stocks of the states increased by 17.5 per cent compared to N4.12 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.
A further look at the data shows that Lagos, Ogun, and Rivers States led the list of states with the highest domestic debt stock as of March 2022, jointly accounting for 26 per cent of the total states’ domestic debt profile.
On a broader perspective, Nigeria’s total debt rose by N2.05 trillion in Q1 2022 from N39.56 trillion recorded as of December 2021 to stand at N41.6 trillion.
Lagos State led the list with N780.48 billion domestic debt as of March 2022, accounting for 16.1% of the entire states’ domestic debt. Ogun State is a distant second with N241.98 billion domestic debt stock, representing 6.1 per cent of the total debts.
Rivers State closely followed in third place with N225.51 billion domestic debt, Imo State recorded a domestic debt stock of N204.61 billion, while Akwa Ibom recorded a domestic debt of N203.11 billion.
Others include Delta (N163.48 billion), Cross River (N158.93 billion), Plateau (N152.1 billion), Bayelsa (N151.41 billion), and Oyo State (N141.19 billion).
The domestic debt stock of Lagos State surged by N273.1 billion from N507.38 billion recorded as of March 2021 to N780.48 billion in March 2022. Also, Ogun State increased its debt stock from N156.34 billion to N241.98 billion in the same period.
Imo State’s domestic debt stock rose from N149.89 billion to N204.61 billion, which represents N54.72 billion increase year-on-year. Oyo and Kwara State grew their debt profile by N49.24 billion and N41.41 billion in one year.
