…Provide Govs. jumbo package
The 10 poorest states in Nigeria owe local and foreign creditors about N1.18trillion, according to data records.
While the data for the poorest state was acquired from the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), the debt data was obtained from the Debt Management Office, (DMO).
The NBS, in its National Multidimensional Poverty Index report, disclosed that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor. It said 63 percent of Nigerians were poor due to a lack of access to health, education, living standards, employment, and security.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index offered a multivariate form of poverty assessment, identifying deprivations across health, education, living standards, work, and shocks.
The NBS report, which presented the level of poverty in each state of the country, showed Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa, and Plateau were the top five poorest States in 2022.
Bayelsa had the highest foreign debt of $60.39m, and was followed by Ebonyi ($58.57m), Taraba ($46.47m), Kebbi ($40.93m), Sokoto ($36.56m), Gombe ($32.48m) and Plateau ($32.4m).
The least debtor owing foreign creditors were Yobe ($22.51m), Jigawa ($26.99m), and Zamfara ($28.86m).
It was further observed that despite the high poverty and debt, some of the States released huge pension benefits to their past governors.
