The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says that the debt burden of the 36 States of the Federation has risen to over 3.342 trillion Naira as at 2016.

Lagos, Delta, Osun and Akwa Ibom states topped the debt chart with a total debt profile of 1.262 trillion Naira, representing about 38% of debts owed by the 36 States of the Federation.

The breakdown shows that as at 2016, Lagos State owes 603.25 billion Naira, Delta – 331.95 billion Naira, while Osun and Akwa Ibom are indebted to the tune of 165.91 billion Naira and 161.23 billion Naira respectively.

The information was contained in the third edition of NEITI Quarterly Review, a researched publication of the organisation which focused on Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in 2016.

The publication, with facts and data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, FAAC and Debt Management Office, is consistent with the mandate of NEITI on monitoring of fiscal allocation and statutory disbursement of revenues due to the three tiers of government.

NEITI’s legitimate interest in the debt profiles, revenue generation and management in Nigeria is as a result of the fact that over 70% of the revenues involved are derived from the extractive industry.

According to the publication, States with high debt burden include Benue with 49.15 billion Naira, Edo – 94.54 billion Naira, Enugu – 57.56 billion Naira, Ekiti – 67.3 billion Naira and Kano with 81.05 billion Naira.

It also disclosed that Katsina State was indebted to the tune of 30.03 billion Naira while and Ogun owed 103.75 billion Naira as at 2016.

NEITI further broke down its analysis in a table containing the total revenue, the Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) and debt profile of the 36 States of the federation.

Table: Summary of FAAC Allocations, IGR, Total Revenue and Debt of State Governments (Jan. to Dec. 2016)

•Sourced from Channels TV.

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