Lagos, kaduna, Cross River, Ogun and Oyo occupied the top position on
the list of external debts incurred by state governments as of
June 30, 2012.
According to the list, Lagos topped the list of external debtors
with $517,677,672 as of June 30, 2012. Next to Lagos is
Kaduna with $197,155.525 foreign debt. Cross River comes next
with $109,351,503 external debt. Following Cross River is Ogun
State as the fourth most indebted state with $96,285.547 as
of June 30, 2012. Oyo is the fifth most indebted state as far as
external debt is concerned with $78,878,401 being owed as of
June 30, 2012.
However, while the other four states depend heavily on federal
allocations, Lagos generates huge internal revenue, which was
about N23bn monthly in the first quarter of the year. The Punch
investigations have also shown that the present administrations in
Ogun and Oyo inherited the foreign debts from their predecessors.
Also, states, whose external debts are low, include Borno ($
12,726,028); Delta ($15,785,110); Plateau ($20,190,627);
Taraba ($20,681,527) and Anambra ($25,370,842). Just
recently, renowned professor, Pat Utomi had condemned the way
the states of the country depend too heavily on money from the
Federal Government coffers. It is about time these states started
thinking seriously about how to increase their Internally Generated
revenue (IGR).