As BudgIT presents cutting-edge findings on the fiscal condition of
\nstates in Nigeria, Lagos, Rivers and other states have topped the 2019
\nFiscal Sustainability Ranking.<\/p>\n
This is according to the State of States Report, launched today in
\nAbuja, where BudgIT draws the curtain to unveil the realities of fiscal
\nsustainability of the thirty-six Nigerian states plus an anatomy of
\ntheir human capital investment, at the 2019 State of States and
\nInvesting in People event.<\/p>\n
According to a statement by its Communications Associate, Shakir
\nAkorede, BudgIT has issued annual editions of the State of States Report
\nsince 2015, dissecting both financial and economic trends at subnational
\nlevel in Nigeria. The 2019 report came with a tweak in methodology by
\nusing states\u2019 actual expenditure as at 2017, reducing the probability of
\nunreliability, as posed by inflated budgeted figures especially
\nexpenditure items. For this year’s report, BudgIT worked with all
\nthirty-six state governments on accessing their audited reports. \u201cThis
\nwas aimed at making our fiscal index more governed by reality than by
\nbudget estimates.\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n
In the last\u00a0 two editions of the report, we paid attention to the export
\npotentials of states and also competitiveness of states. However, in
\nthis edition, we have broadened the scope by reviewing the current state
\nof health in each state, using broad metrics on infant mortality rate,
\nmaternal mortality rate, access to skilled workers and doctor density
\nratio among states. In addition, we explored testimonies from citizens
\non the current state of health in the respective communities, bringing
\nto the fore challenges ranging from lack of access to skilled workers,
\npoor quality of personnel and lack of access to drugs. Our interest is
\nto further dive into the stories of citizens on the current state of
\nhealthcare in the country and how resource allocations are not enough to
\nmeet the heightening challenges.<\/p>\n
While we would have liked to draw on 2018 audited statements for the
\nreport, less than 15 states have published their audited statement,
\nmaking it largely unrepresentative for the states. \u201cHowever, we note
\nthat the issues of weak economies of states persists as they remain tied
\nto informal trade and skeletal industrial output with exception of
\nLagos, Rivers, Delta, Ogun and Akwa Ibom states. Our report reveals that
\nmost Nigerian states have still not figured out how to harness their
\ncollective strengths, establish single focus investment products,
\nthereby becoming fulcrum of productivity and not just FAAC collection
\ncenters,\u201d BudgIT Principal Lead, Gabriel Okeowo, told journalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Nigerian states are not out of the woods due to the sub-optimal
\nfederalism system that Nigeria practices, the recent one-off payments
\nsuch as the Paris Club Exchange Rate Refund, refund for federal road
\nprojects to states, budget support fund and loans by the Central Bank of
\nNigeria have helped many states with fiscal challenge to mildly recover.
\nIt is interesting to see states like Cross River, with a bogus budget of
\nN1.04tn, spend less than N93bn on an annual basis which brings them up
\nthe rank as well as Imo with its recurrent spending of N43bn,\u201d Okeowo
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Lagos State leads the fiscal sustainability index, followed by Rivers,
\nAkwa Ibom and Kano States. Access to audited statements brought out some
\nfacts on the true state of recurrent expenditure in focus states. We
\nnoticed states such as Delta running huge recurrent expenditure reaching
\nN200bn while Bayelsa, despite its tiny size and population, has a
\ntowering recurrent bill as high as N137bn, compared with Ebonyi (N30bn),
\nSokoto (N38bn), Jigawa (N43bn), Yobe (N35bn), etc. It is a recurring
\ntheme to see states in South-South Nigeria running high recurrent bills,
\nmainly driven by the high revenues earned due to the 13% derivation.<\/p>\n
We believe that our work in terms of transparency must henceforth
\nexplore the socio-economic dimensions of the Nigerian society. Our
\nbelief is that Nigeria needs to create an incentive for states to expand
\ngrowth and earning potential, thereby activating resources needed to
\nimprove the state of health, education and access to opportunity. BudgIT
\nbelieves that Nigeria possesses the required resources to change the
\ndynamics of its population, but this will require strong leadership\u00a0 in
\na dynamic and competitive world.<\/p>\n
As BudgIT presents cutting-edge findings on the fiscal condition of states in Nigeria, Lagos, Rivers and other states have topped the 2019 Fiscal Sustainability Ranking. This is according to the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n