Borrowing in the Dark: What Nigeria's States Don't Tell You About Their Debt

Every quarter, the Debt Management Office publishes a simple table: how much each of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory owes in domestic debt. As of March 2026, the combined total stood at ₦4.52 trillion, up from ₦4.36 trillion three months earlier. Lagos alone accounted for more than a quarter of it, at ₦1.21 trillion. Lagos, the FCT, and Rivers State together held 43.27% of the entire subnational debt stock.