Economy
14 Nigerian States Bankrupt—Report
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Out of the 36 states of the federation, 14 of them are insolvent as their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) in 2016 were far below 10 percent of their Federation Account Allocations (FAA) in the same year, a new report has disclosed.
The report, released by the Economic Confidential, the award winning Economic Intelligence Magazine, noted that without the monthly disbursement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), many states in the country would find it very difficult to survive.
Economic Confidential, in its Annual States Viability Index (ASVI), pointed out that the index was carefully and painstakingly computed.
According to the magazine, the IGR are generated by states through Pay-As-You-Earn Tax (PAYE), Direct Assessment, Road Taxes and revenues from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA)s. The report by this economic intelligence magazine further indicates that the IGR of Lagos State of N302 billion is higher than that of 30 States put together excluding Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Kwara and Delta States, whose IGRs are very impressive at more than 30 percent each. The 30 other states merely generated a total of N258 billion in 2016.
Recently the magazine published the total allocation received by each state in Nigeria from the Federation Account Allocation (FAA) between January to December 2016. The latest report on IGR reveals that only Lagos and Ogun States generated more revenue than their allocations from the Federation Account by 169 percent and 127 percent respectively and no any other state has up to 100 percent of IGR to the federal largesse.
The IGR of the 36 states of the federation totalled N801.95 billion in 2016 as compared to N682.67 billion in 2015, an increase of N119.28 billion.
While the report provides shocking discoveries to the effect that 14 states which have less than 10 percent IGR may not stay afloat outside the Federation Account Allocation due to socio-political crises including insurgency, militancy and herdsmen attacks, others lack foresight in revenue generation drive coupled with arm-chair governance.
The states that may not survive without the Federation Account due to poor internal revenue generation include Borno which realized a meagre N2.6 billion compared to a total of N73.8 billion it received from the Federation Account Allocation (FAA) in 2016 representing about 4 percent.
Others are: Ebonyi with IGR of N2.3 billion compared to FAA of N46.6 billion representing 5 percent; Kebbi N3.1 billion compared to FAA of N60.88 billion representing 5.14 percent; Jigawa with N3.5 billion compared to N68.52 billion of FAA representing 5.15 percent and Yobe with IGR of N3.24 billion compared to N53.93 billion of FAA representing 6.0 percent within the period under review. Other poor internal revenue earners are Gombe which generated N2.94 billion compared to FAA of N46 billion representing 6.26 percent; Ekiti N2.99 billion compared to FAA of N47.56 billion representing 6.28 percent; Katsina N5.54 billion compared to FAA of N83 billion representing 6.65 percent and Sokoto N4.54 billion compared to FAA of N65.97 billion representing 6.88 percent.
Meanwhile Lagos State remained steadfast in its number one position in IGR with a total revenue generation of N302 billion compared to FAA of N178 billion which translate to 169 percent in the twelve months of 2016.
It is followed by Ogun State which generated IGR of N72.98 billion compared to FAA of N57 billion representing 127 percent. Others with impressive IGR include Rivers with N85 billion compared to FAA of N134 billion representing 63 percent; Edo with IGR of N23 billion compared to FAA of N59 billion representing 38 percent. Kwara State however with low receipt from the Federation Account has greatly improved in its IGR of N17bn compared to FAA of N49 billion representing 35 percent while Delta with IGR of N44 billion compared to FAA of N126 billion representing 6.88 percent.
The Economic Confidential ASVI further showed that only three states in the entire Northern region have IGR above 20 percent. They are Kwara, Kano, and Kaduna States.
Meanwhile eight states in the South recorded over 20 percent IGR in 2016. They are Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Enugu, and Oyo States State. The states with the poorest Internally Generated Revenue of less than 10 percent in the South are Imo, Bayelsa, Ekiti, and Ebonyi States while in the North we have Niger, Nasarawa, Sokoto, Katsina, Gombe, Yobe, Jigawa, Kebbi and Borno States.
Meanwhile the IGR of the respective states can improve through aggressive diversification of the economy to productive sectors rather than relying on the monthly Federation Account revenue that largely come from the oil sector.
Source: Economic Confidential
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
