WikkiTimes which made the review of the budget documents reports that the states were Kano, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna, adding that the review further showed that Northwestern states owe N610.1billion as domestic debts as of the end of 2023.
A review of the 2023 budget performance reports has shown that five North-Western states of Nigeria with available data for public debt charges spent over N81billion for the purpose of debt servicing in 2023.
WikkiTimes which made the review of the budget documents reports that the states were Kano, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna, adding that the review further showed that Northwestern states owe N610.1billion as domestic debts as of the end of 2023.
Public debt charges are largely interests paid on accumulated debts by states.
Experts have argued that the monies hinder development as they gulp billions of naira from the states’ treasury.
According to experts, the money could have been used for other developmental purposes.
The review showed that Kano State owes the highest domestic debt with the sum of N122.3 billion followed by Zamfara with a domestic debt figure of N110.5 billion, while Jigawa owes the least domestic debt with N42.7 billion.
On the external debt data, the review showed that Kaduna State owes the highest debt figure as data from the debt management office reportedly showed that Kaduna owes $587 million as of the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, Jigawa State owes the least external debt in the region with $25 million.
There have been concerns on the over-reliance of the region on funding from the federal allocation, a development that usually leads to states relying on loans to survive.