Cross River State Governor is topping 12 new others in Nigeria for borrowing a staggering N226.8 billion from domestic and external financiers in the first six months after assuming office, Debt Management Office said.
Findings showed that 16 state governors also increased the debt profile of their states by N509.3 billion with domestic and external debt of N243.95 billion and $298.5 million (N265.37 billion), respectively.
Cross River Governor, Bassey Otu, for example, secured the highest loan amounting to N16.2 billion from domestic creditors and $57.95 million from foreign lenders.
The external debt was calculated based on the exchange rate of N889/$ used by the Debt Management Office in its report.
This, according to an analysis, is based on the latest sub-national debt reports released by the DMO.
The sub-national debts are classified into domestic borrowings from local creditors and external borrowings from international creditors like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
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The domestic and external debts published on the DMO’s website were as of December 30 and June 30, 2023, respectively.
The states, which include Benue, Cross River, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory, got N115.57 billion from domestic creditors, while governors of Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states borrowed $125.1million (N111.24 billion) from external sources.
