Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory and Rivers State have accounted for 43.27 per cent of the N4.52tn domestic debt owed by Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT as of March 31, 2026.
This was contained in the latest domestic debt data released by the Debt Management Office for the first quarter of 2026.
According to the data, the three jurisdictions had a combined domestic debt of N1.96tn, with Lagos alone accounting for more than a quarter of the total debt stock.
Lagos recorded the highest domestic debt at N1.21tn, representing approximately 26.6 per cent of the combined N4.52tn debt.
The FCT followed with N389.88bn, while Rivers State ranked third with N362.43bn.
Other states with relatively high domestic debt stocks included Delta State, with N213.85bn, and Ogun State, with N200.75bn.
At the bottom of the table, Jigawa recorded the lowest domestic debt at N1.60bn, followed by Ondo State with N7.31bn and Anambra with N9.62bn.
Debt rises by N163.25bn
The DMO data further showed that the combined domestic debt of the 36 states and the FCT increased by N163.25bn between December 2025 and March 2026.
The debt stock rose from N4.36tn at the end of December 2025 to N4.52tn by March 31, 2026, representing a 3.7 per cent increase.
The FCT recorded the sharpest increase during the three-month period, with its domestic debt more than doubling from N188.86bn in December 2025 to N389.88bn in March 2026.
Edo State also recorded a significant rise, with its debt increasing from N91.18bn to N172.37bn.
Similarly, Borno’s domestic debt rose from N42.64bn to N88.44bn, while Yobe’s increased from N81bn to N98.59bn.
However, some of the states with the highest debt stocks recorded declines during the period.
Lagos’ debt fell marginally from N1.22tn in December 2025 to N1.21tn in March 2026, while Rivers State’s debt declined from N378.81bn to N362.43bn.
Delta also recorded a reduction from N248.83bn to N213.85bn, while Ogun’s debt dropped from N227.47bn to N200.75bn.
The figures underscore the uneven distribution of domestic debt among Nigeria’s sub-national governments, with a relatively small number of states accounting for a significant portion of the total debt stock.
The DMO’s fourth-quarter 2025 data had put the combined domestic debt of the states and the FCT at N4.36tn, with Lagos, Rivers, Delta, Ogun and the FCT ranking among the largest debtors.
The latest figures therefore show that while some states reduced their domestic obligations during the first quarter of 2026, rising debt in several others pushed the overall state domestic debt stock higher.
