Seven states spent an average of 190 per cent of their Internally Generated Revenue on debt servicing in the first quarter of 2025, a development that shows the worsening fiscal strain facing subnational governments.
Data from the Q1 2025 Budget Implementation Reports of Bayelsa, Adamawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Taraba, and Bauchi states show that debt service expenditure in each of the states exceeded their IGR, in some cases by more than 300 per cent.
The trend, when compared with figures from the preceding quarter (Q4 2024), also reflects a sharp quarter-on-quarter surge in debt service cost, which rose by approximately 51 per cent across the states reviewed.
The PUNCH observed that seven Nigerian states spent a total of N98.71bn on debt servicing in Q1 2025, marking a sharp increase of N33.48bn or 51 per cent compared to the N65.24bn recorded in the previous quarter.
The data further revealed that the combined IGR for the seven states rose modestly from N44.05bn in Q4 2024 to N51.92bn in Q1 2025, indicating an increase of N7.87bn.
However, this marginal revenue improvement was outpaced by a surge in debt repayment obligations, highlighting the widening fiscal gap at the subnational level.
