By Francis Ogwo
Eight oil producing states in Nigeria got a sum of N424.02 billion shared among them in the year 2020 as part of 13% oil derivatives.
This was contained in a data released by the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) reports which is published regularly by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The data showed that the amount shared in 2020 reduced by 20.9% when compared to the total of N536.35 billion shared in the previous year.
The reduction in the funds shared can be attributed to the crash in oil prices triggered by disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.
More details from the data showed that Nigerian Oil producing states that received funds in 2020 include Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Ondo, Imo, and Abia. It is worth noting that Lagos State is also an oil-producing state, but did not receive any fund in the year under review.
Delta State ranks first on the list with a total of N130.6 billion, which represents about 31% of the total 13% derivation shared in 2020.
Akwa Ibom closely followed having received a total of N94.8 billion as 13% derivation revenue shared. This means the state received 22% of the total disbursement during the period.
Others on the list include; Bayelsa (N80.9 billion), Rivers (N78.4 billion), Edo (N13.6 billion), Ondo (N11.3 billion), Imo (N9.1 billion), and Abia State (N5.3 billion).
Reports revealed that most of the 9 states despite the 13% derivatives are among the most highly indebted states in Nigeria. For example, Lagos State leads in the domestic debtors’ list with a total domestic debt of N493.3 billion as of Q3 2020.
Rivers State follows with a domestic debt stock of N266.9 billion, representing the second state with the highest domestic debt stock.
Akwa Ibom and Delta both recorded domestic debt stock of N239.2 billion and N235.9 billion respectively.
Imo State and Bayelsa are also among the list of top 10 states with the highest domestic debt stock with N158.2 billion and N147.9 billion respectively.
On external debts, Lagos State also leads the pack with a debt stock of $1.26 billion.
Although none of the other oil-producing states fall into the top ten list in terms of external debts, their debt portfolio is still a cause for worry considering their capacity to generate revenue internally.
Amongst the oil-producing states, only Lagos appears to have the ability for self-sustenance with total available revenue of N254.5 billion as of the first half of 2020 with IGR accounting for 80.34% of the total.
Data from the NBS, shows that the proportion of internally generated revenue in comparison to total revenue for the other oil-producing states is well below average, indicating that most of the states are FAAC dependent states.
