Exterior debt gulps N136bn from govt’s January income

Exterior debt obligations gulped a complete of N136.54bn from revenues generated by the federation in January 2026, in line with Federation Account Allocation Committee paperwork analysed by The PidomNigeria.

The quantity was deducted at supply from the gross income for the month earlier than distribution in February 2026, successfully lowering the web FAAC allocations out there to the three tiers of presidency.

Findings confirmed that the January 2026 deduction represents a rise of N10.53bn or 8.35 per cent when put next with the N126.01bn deducted from January 2025 revenues.

Additional evaluation of the information exhibits that the deduction accounted for about 6.12 per cent of the N2.23tn gross income recorded in January 2026. This marks a transparent improve from January 2025, when N126.01bn was deducted from a better gross income of N2.64tn, representing about 4.77 per cent of whole earnings.

An in depth breakdown signifies that the Federal Authorities accounted for the biggest share of the deductions, with N86.54bn faraway from its January 2026 income. This represents about 63.4 per cent of the whole international debt servicing price.

Notably, the federal deduction remained unchanged year-on-year at N86.54bn, suggesting a set reimbursement profile for the interval. The remaining N49.99bn was deducted for the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Among the many states, Lagos recorded the best deduction at N9.71bn in January 2026, up from N8.53bn within the corresponding interval of 2025, indicating a rise of N1.18bn or 13.79 per cent.

Kaduna adopted with N8.29bn, greater than doubling its N4.14bn deduction in January 2025, reflecting a pointy improve of N4.16bn or 100.53 per cent.

Edo recorded a big rise in its exterior debt servicing deduction, growing to N2.96bn from N1.64bn, representing a leap of N1.31bn or 80.01 per cent. Equally, Katsina’s deduction surged to N2.14bn from N631.71m, a rise of N1.51bn or 239.51 per cent, making it one of many highest share will increase among the many states.

Cross River additionally posted a notable improve, with deductions rising to N2.33bn from N1.65bn, whereas Bauchi’s deduction climbed to N2.08bn from N1.37bn, representing a rise of 52.32 per cent.

Niger’s exterior debt servicing deduction greater than doubled to N1.31bn from N621.25m, reflecting a 110.84 per cent improve, whereas Kogi rose to N901.74m from N440.77m, representing a 104.58 per cent improve.

Borno recorded one of the crucial dramatic will increase in share phrases, with its deduction rising from N251.02m in January 2025 to N867.18m in January 2026, a rise of N616.16m or 245.46 per cent.

Gombe additionally recorded a pointy rise of 211.03 per cent, growing to N950.64m from N305.64m. Plateau’s deduction rose considerably by 134.13 per cent to N685.26m from N292.68m, whereas Delta recorded a rise of 95.85 per cent to N572.75m from N292.45m. Enugu additionally noticed a powerful rise of 98.39 per cent to N879.90m from N443.52m.

Reasonable will increase had been recorded in states resembling Ekiti, the place deductions rose to N976.44m from N879.37m, representing 11.04 per cent progress; Kwara, which elevated by 10.57 per cent to N389.48m; Kebbi, up by 23.35 per cent to N488.34m; Jigawa, which rose by 8.32 per cent to N234.92m; and Bayelsa, which recorded a marginal improve of 0.46 per cent to N357.97m.

Benue additionally recorded a notable improve of 59.33 per cent to N363.13m from N227.91m, whereas Sokoto rose by 73.80 per cent to N529.28m.

Nevertheless, a number of states recorded declines of their exterior debt servicing deductions, suggesting both decrease reimbursement obligations or shifts in debt constructions. Rivers recorded one of many largest absolute declines, with deductions falling to N3.34bn from N4.56bn, representing a lower of N1.21bn or 26.60 per cent.

Ogun additionally declined to N1.84bn from N2.23bn, a drop of 17.72 per cent, whereas Oyo fell to N1.27bn from N1.52bn, representing a decline of 16.52 per cent. Adamawa’s deduction dropped by 27.70 per cent to N617.79m from N854.50m, whereas Anambra declined by 27.48 per cent to N386.55m from N533.05m. Ebonyi recorded a lower of 37.86 per cent to N386.57m from N622.12m.

Taraba additionally declined considerably by 44.94 per cent to N238.52m, whereas Nasarawa dropped by 55.42 per cent to N217.66m from N488.30m. The Federal Capital Territory recorded a decline of 44.34 per cent to N207.02m from N371.93m.

Zamfara recorded the sharpest share drop amongst all states, falling by 71.01 per cent to N72.73m from N250.91m. Yobe additionally declined by 24.07 per cent to N179.77m, whereas Osun dropped by 8.01 per cent to N764.03m. Ondo recorded a marginal decline of two.06 per cent to N494.92m, and Kano noticed a slight lower of 0.52 per cent to N891.36m. Akwa Ibom additionally recorded a decline of 9.19 per cent to N387.78m.

The variation throughout states displays variations within the measurement and construction of exterior loans, disbursement timelines, and reimbursement schedules. It additionally highlights the function of trade price actions, as most international loans are denominated in exterior currencies, making servicing prices delicate to naira depreciation.

Earlier, The PidomNigeria reported that states paid N455.38bn in international debt service in 2025, up from N362.08bn in 2024, in line with Federation Accounts Allocation Committee figures launched by the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics and obtained and analysed by The PidomNigeria.

The PidomNigeria additionally reported that Nigeria spent about $5.21bn servicing exterior debt obligations in 2025, accounting for greater than 72 per cent of the nation’s whole worldwide funds through the 12 months, in line with knowledge obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Figures revealed on the CBN web site indicated that exterior debt service rose from $4.66bn in 2024 to $5.21bn in 2025, representing a rise of $551.86m or about 11.9 per cent year-on-year. The rise got here at the same time as Nigeria’s general worldwide funds recorded a marginal decline through the interval.

In a current assertion, the performing Director of Communication and Stakeholders Administration on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, famous that states face monetary pressure because of debt repayments, regardless of record-high disbursements from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee.

In line with the assertion, a NEITI report confirmed that a number of states with excessive debt burdens additionally ranked decrease in FAAC allocations, elevating considerations about their fiscal sustainability and their capacity to fund vital tasks.

“The report famous that many states with excessive debt ratios had been within the decrease half of the FAAC allocation rankings however ranked increased for debt deductions, elevating considerations about their debt-to-revenue ratios and general fiscal well being,” the assertion learn.

Additionally, economists have warned that with out a vital improve in income technology, the rising debt service burden may crowd out spending on important providers and infrastructure.

The Director and Chief Economist at Proshare Nigeria LLC, Teslim Shitta-Bey, earlier warned that the rising debt burden on Nigeria’s subnational governments may problem their fiscal stability within the coming years.

He confused that the majority state governments, together with the Federal Authorities, had didn’t handle their steadiness sheets successfully. Talking to The PidomNigeria, Shitta-Bey mentioned, “The problem right here is that a lot of the governments, together with the Federal Authorities, are unable to handle their steadiness sheets correctly. Whereas borrowing would possibly look like a straightforward strategy to run operations, it’s not essentially the appropriate strategy.”

In line with Shitta-Bey, borrowing shouldn’t be the default answer for governments. “Governments may think about longer-term debt constructions that resemble fairness, which could truly be extra helpful in the long term,” he defined.

He additionally referred to as for a complete register of nationwide belongings to assist states elevate capital. He used the instance of the Nationwide Stadium, which had not been used for main actions for some time.

Shitta-Bey lamented the underuse of state income bonds, which had been initially designed to generate income. “States have to deal with elevating income bonds as an alternative of normal obligation bonds,” he mentioned.

The Programme Supervisor of the Sustainable Nigeria Programme at Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Mr Ikenna Ofoegbu, warned concerning the excessive price of borrowing within the financial system. In line with him, income is being swallowed by debt funds.

“Our debt servicing is about 60 per cent to 70 per cent. It has come down from about 80 per cent to 90 per cent. So now we’re about 60 per cent to 70 per cent,” he mentioned.

He criticised the shortage of transparency. “Sadly, we’re not coping with the form of leaders that we will belief, no matter they are saying or their intentions. We can’t belief the system. We can’t belief our legislators,” he mentioned. “I don’t know the final time we noticed all these stories publicly.”

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Financial system, Wale Edun, lately mentioned that Nigeria was intentionally shifting from costly exterior borrowing to a progress mannequin anchored on non-public capital and home reforms.

Edun acknowledged this on the opening session of the G-24 Technical Group Assembly in Abuja, the place he delivered a keynote deal with on the worldwide financial system and the necessity for stronger South-South cooperation.

“Nigeria is intentionally shifting away from a mannequin overly reliant on costly exterior borrowing towards a extra resilient progress framework powered by home reforms, non-public capital, and diversified financing devices,” Edun mentioned.

He defined that the brand new strategy was in keeping with evolving international improvement finance priorities that emphasise progressive financing, blended devices and expanded concessional home windows.