20 Nigerian Governors borrow N458bn in first half of 2025
At least 20 states of the federation borrowed about N458bn in the first half of 2025, amidst rising debt servicing burden.
The states have collectively spent about N235.58 billion on servicing external debt within the period, representing a 68.4 percent rise when compared with the corresponding half of the previous year.
Experts say the increase results from a dollar-denominated debt repayments amidst the Naira depreciation.
The National Bureau of Statistics had shown in an analysis of the Federal Account Allocation Committee disbursement data that a total of N10.13 trillion, including statutory revenue, Electronic Money Transfer Levy, Exchange Rate Difference and Value Added Tax, was shared in the first half of 2025 among the three tiers of government.
The states received N3.425tn, which is a 42.96 percent increase when compared to the N2.396tn they got in the first half of 2024.
In the first half of 2024, states received N379bn in January, N366.9bn in February, N396.8bn in March, N403bn in April, N388.4bn in May, and N461.97bn in June.
But in the same period in 2025, allocations increased to N590.6bn in January, N562.19bn in February, N530.45bn in March, N556.74bn in April, N577.84bn in May, and N607bn in June.
Despite the higher inflows, an analysis of states’ Q2 budget implementation reports showed that about 20 of them still resorted to fresh borrowings, both foreign and domestic, amounting to N457.66bn in the first half of 2025.
Oyo State took the lead, with a N93.4bn domestic loan, followed by Kaduna and Lagos, which took N62bn (foreign) and N50bn (domestic) loans, respectively.
Other States that took foreign loans are Gombe (N20.3bn), Zamfara (N28bn), Katsina (N20.7bn), Kebbi (N7.4bn) and Jigawa (N10.98bn).
Bauchi took both domestic and foreign loans totalling N26.3bn, while Borno, Taraba, Sokoto, Niger, Kwara, and Ekiti borrowed N18.2bn, N18.7bn, N15bn, N25.8bn, N2.18bn and N19.8bn respectively in foreign loans.
Also on the list of foreign loan includes, Ondo (N5.6bn), Abia (N7bn), Ebonyi (N10.9bn) and Enugu (N10.7bn).
With the constant fall and unpredictability of the naira, experts say that the persistent reliance on foreign loans exposes states to huge fiscal risks while raising questions on their financial autonomy.
Critics have also questioned the importance of such loans since they hardly reflect in any positive light on the state’s economy and the lives of the populace.
source: Punch
