…As Edo, Lagos, 5 Others Are Named as only Economically viable States in Nigeria
By Ken Afor
Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki on Saturday signed six executive orders in key sectors in the state’s economy.
The executive orders signed are expected to deepen investment in agriculture, multi-sector businesses, and public-private sector partnerships, amongst others.
Also, the six executive orders, according to reports from Edo state, are equally designed to enhance the State’s Open governance initiatives and trade related matters in the state. This is coming just as Edo, Lagos and five other states were named as Nigeria’s only six economically viable states by Economic Confidential, using data obtained from both National Bureau of Statistics and FAAC.
The Executive Orders are:
1. Establishment, Adoption and Implementation of Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land-Intensive Agricultural Investment (FRILIA).
2. Establishment of a Framework for Expected Broadband Deployment, Streamlined Right of Way Procedures, and Associated Fees in Edo State.
3. Establishing the Edo State Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Office.
4. Edo State Open Governance and Public Engagement: Promoting Transparency and Efficiency in Business Enabling Environment(BEE) in Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs).
5. The Adoption of Presumptive Income Tax Regime to Support Small Businesses in Edo State.
6. Establishment of a Grievance Redress Mechanism for Trade-Related Matters.
It would be recalled during the week, a media group, Economic Confidential, a subsidiary of PR Nigeria, revealed that seven states including Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Kaduna, Kwara, Oyo, and Edo were identified as the most economically viable states in Nigeria for the year 2022.
The group made this known at a press conference and the unveiling of the 2022 Annual States Viability Index Report recently held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Zekeri Idakwo, the Assistant Editor of Economic Confidential, said that the report was assembled using data provided by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Idakwo said, “The IGR of the 36 states of the federation totalled N1.8trn in 2022, which was above that of 2021, which was N1.76trn.
“The report further indicates that the IGR of Lagos State of N651bn is higher than that of 30 other states put together whose Internally Generated Revenues are extremely low and poor, compared to their allocations from the Federation Account.
“A total Internally Generated Revenue of N1.5trn from the seven most viable states in 2022, was almost twice the total IGR of 29 states together that merely generated about N650bn.”
The report revealed that Lagos received a total of N370bn from FAAC, whereas the state itself generated a higher amount of N651bn.
Similarly, Ogun received N113bn from external sources but managed to generate N120.5bn internally. Rivers received N363.4bn from FAAC, but its internal revenue generation amounted to N172bn.
Also, Kaduna received N155bn in federal allocation and generated N58bn. Kwara received N99bn and generated N35.7bn. Oyo received N181bn and generated N62bn. Lastly, Edo received N147bn in federal allocation and generated N47.4bn.
Six states, namely Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Katsina, fell short of generating even 10% of the total allocations they received from the Federal Government for 2022, resulting in their classification as insolvent states.
“The six states that may not survive without the Federation Account due to their extremely poor internal revenue generation of less than 10% compared to their federal allocations are Bayelsa, Katsina and Akwa Ibom, the home states of former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, and the current Senate President Godswill Akpabio respectively. Others are Taraba, Yobe and Kebbi States,” the report added.
Bayelsa ranked at the bottom of the list, with an allocation of N273bn and a meager N15.9bn generated, accounting for only 5.81% of the total allocations. Kebbi received N119bn and generated N9bn (7.67%); Katsina received N165bn and generated N13bn (7.90%); Akwa Ibom received N360bn and generated N34.8bn (9.66%); Taraba received N103bn and generated N10.2bn (9.91%); while Yobe received N105bn and generated N10.4bn (9.91%).
