Enugu State under the leadership of Dr. Peter Mbah, has reduced its external debt by $39.8 million, the highest reduction by new state governors between June 2023 and June 2024.
This was disclosed by Statisense at the weekend, citing data published by the Debt Management Office.
A post on StatiSense X handle entitled, “2023 New Governors and Their External Debt Status in One Year,” revealed that Governor Mbah reduced the state’s external debt by $39.8 million, followed by Governor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom State, who reduced the state’s external debt by $6.24 million.
Other states with new governors that had a reduction in their external debt in the period under review – June 2023 to June 2024 – were Benue ($2.82 million), Delta ($1.40 million), Jigawa ($1.14 million), and Zamfara ($874,000)
However, 12 states recorded a rise in their external debt stocks under their new leaders, the data company and AI platform said.
Rivers external debt grew by $119.9 million, while those of Kaduna, Katsina, and Cross Rivers grew by $71.6 million, $62.3 million, and $57.8 million, respectively.
Ebonyi State’s external debt grew by $35.3 million, while that of Kano State grew by $22.1 million and Kebbi State recorded $16.4 million rise in external debt, according to the internal data company.
Others listed were Sokoto ($16.1 million), Taraba: ($9.54 million), Niger: ($8.87 million), Abia ($4.96 million), and Plateau ($2.35 millioxn).