By Azeez Ope Quadri 
An analysis of the 2025 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Debt Management Office (DMO) data show that 15 Nigerian States incurred more debt than their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2025.
Table of Contents
Highlights:
- 11 out of the 15 states are in the Northern part of the country
- The Debt-to-IGR of Yobe was the highest, standing at 506%
The 15 states had a combined ₦1.47 trillion debt liabilities against a total combined ₦764.25 billion in IGR in the 2025 fiscal year, pointing to structural imbalance between internal revenue capacity and debt liabilities. Leading the pack is Yobe State, which generated N16.01 Billion in IGR while incurring N81 Billion. Yobe and Benue occupy the second and third position respectively.
Yobe
- Debt: N81bn
- IGR: N16.01bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 506%
Benue
- Debt: N107.23bn
- IGR: N29.57bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 362%
Taraba
- Debt: N85.51bn
- IGR: N28.16bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 304%
Bauchi
- Debt: N156.05bn
- IGR: N52.79bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 296%
Cross River
- Debt: N137.36bn
- IGR: N58.64bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 234%
Sokoto
- Debt: N47.39bn
- IGR: N20.48bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 231%
Niger State
- Debt: N142.67bn
- IGR: N66.37bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 215%
Adamawa
- Debt: N67.03bn
- IGR: N33.76bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 199%
Imo
- Debt: N83.75bn
- IGR: N43.65bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 192%
Zamfara
- Debt: N57.04bn
- IGR: N30.07bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 190%
Gombe
- Debt: N67.20bn
- IGR: N43.96bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 153%
Plateau
- Debt: N67.50bn
- IGR: N45.10bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 150%
Osun
- Debt: N80.21bn
- IGR: N56.84bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 141%
Delta
- Debt: N248.83bn
- IGR: N202.49bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 123%
Borno
- Debt: N42.64bn
- IGR: N36.36bn
- Debt-to-IGR: 117%
Implications
None of the 15 states generated sufficient internal revenue to cover their accumulated debt obligations without relying on external funding sources such as federal allocations and external financing. Even though most of the state governors leave extravagantly without a recourse to their debt profile.
INFOMEDIANG SOLUTIONS