Nigeria’s 36 states to spend N11trn in 2023

…Charts explain pattern, expectations

Nigeria’s 36 states (except the FCT) will spend N11 trillion in the 2023 fiscal year. This represents budgets approved by the 36 states’ legislative houses.

Dataphyte analysis shows that Osun State is the first to approve its 2023 budget. The immediate past governor, Gboyega Oyetola, signed the state’s N138.8 billion 2023 appropriation bill after being passed by the legislative house on November 23, 2022. 

Other states’ 2023 appropriation bills were passed and signed on different dates before the first two weeks of 2023.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) proposed a budget of N607.9 billion for the 2023 fiscal year. However, its budget is yet to be approved as the legislature seeks to sanction 2022 and 2023 budgets for the capital city.

Proposed vs. Approved

Analysis of the 36 states’ budgets shows that the subnationals proposed N10.822 trillion. After each state’s legislature deliberated on the submitted budget proposal, the approved budget summed up N11.009 trillion.

This shows an addition of N187.412 billion to the sum proposed by the 36 states.

Only a few states had their original budgets increased.

Dataphyte analysis shows that 24 states raised original budgets submitted to their houses of assembly, seven approved the same amount as proposed while five had their appropriations reduced before approval.

Ekiti, Yobe, Kwara, Zamfara, and Sokoto are five states whose approved budgets are less than originally proposed ones. The states put forward a sum of N853.491 billion, but N839.22 billion was approved. This shows a decline of  N14.271 billion over the proposed budget.

In Adamawa, Benue, Cross River, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, and Kogi states, the approved budgets are the same as proposed. These states proposed and approved a combined N1.497 trillion for the fiscal year.

Top 10 states with highest appropriation

Lagos State has the highest amount appropriated for the 2023 fiscal year, and its budget accounts for 16.06 percent of the total. The state budget for the year is N1.768 trillion, of which N1.019 trillion is for capital expenditure while N748.09 billion is for recurrent spending.

Akwa Ibom State approved the sum of N700 billion for the year. The state’s budget ranks second in the hierarchy, accounting for 6.36 percent of the total of the 36 states. The state budgeted N355.99 billion for capital and N344 billion for recurrent spending.

With an approved budget of N571.64 billion, Delta State has the third highest approved budget by the states. The state budgeted N336.1 billion for capital expenditure and N235.5 billion for recurrent spending. The state’s budget accounts for 5.19 percent of the total.

Rivers State approved N555.66 billion for the year, placing it at fourth position. The state’s budget figure is 5.05 percent of the total of the 36 states.

Imo State is the fifth, with an approved budget of N472.25 billion. The state’s budget accounts for 4.31 percent of 36 states’ budget total. The state earmarked N373.6 billion for capital expenditure and N100.9 billion for recurrent spending.

The other states in the top 10 are Ogun State, with an approved budget of N471.25 billion; Bayelsa State, N389.37 billion; Kaduna State, N376.47 billion; Cross River State, N330.23 billion; and Edo State, N321.4 billion.

These states’ budgets amount to N5.959 trillion, accounting for 54.13 percent of the 36 states’ budgets.

Bottom 10 states

The bottom states have a total of N1.519 trillion budget for the 2023 fiscal year. This makes up 13.8 percent of the total by the 36 states.

Ekiti State sits at the bottom, with an approved sum of N113.57 billion. This amount represents 1.03 percent of the total budget approved by the states.

Osun State is next with a sum of N138.27 billion. The state’s budget is 1.26 percent of the sum approved by the states,

With N139.39 billion approved for the year, Ebonyi State is third from the bottom amongst the 36 states. The state budget is 1.27 percent of the total.

Nasarawa State’s N149.3 billion and Plateau State’s N149.9 billion placed them in fourth and fifth from the bottom respectively.

Abia, Yobe, Enugu, Kebbi, and Kogi states complete the list from the bottom. As approved for the year, Abia State will spend N160.52 billion; Yobe State, N163.01 billion; Enugu State, N166.6 billion; Kebbi State, N166.99 billion; and Kogi State, N172.09 billion.

Per capita appropriation

Per capita budget spending analysis of the 2023 budget approved by the 36 states shows that N46,645.44 will be spent on each citizen.

Per capita expenditure shows how much each state will spend on its citizens based on the amount budgeted and the estimated population.

Though this amount varies from state to state, Bayelsa State has the highest per capita spending of N139,525.79, while Kano State’s N16,278.98 is the least.

Lagos State has the second-highest per capita expenditure for 2023. The state’s per capita expenditure for approved budget is N112.600.24.

Akwa Ibom, Delta, and Ogun state complete the top five states with the highest per capita expenditure in 2023. About N100,642.84 is the per capita expenditure for Bayelsa State for the year, while those of Delta and Ogun states are N80.680.08 and N71,840.52 respectively.

For the states with the least per capita expenditure for the year, Kano sits at the bottom with N16,278.98 expenditure per capita.

Osun State is the last but one with a per capita expenditure of N23,486.39, whereas Bauchi State is third from the bottom with N24,432.45.

Jigawa and Benue states are part of the bottom five states, with former having a per capita expenditure of N25,010.08 and the latter, N25,381.36.

Analysis shows that for the states combined, this N46,645.44 cannot fund the people’s basic needs – health, education, and shelter – annually, accounting for why poverty is most visible at the state level.

Capital vs. Recurrent

Analysis of the approved budget by category for the states (except Sokoto and Bayelsa) shows that N5.873 trillion is for capital expenditure, while N4.536 trillion goes to recurrent expenditure.

This shows that capital expenditure takes up 56.42 percent of the approved budget while recurrent expenditure makes up 43.5 percent.

Imo, Enugu, Kaduna, Katsina, and Anambra states have greater proportions of their approved budgets to capital expenditure than recurrent.

In Imo State, 78.74 percent of its N474.47 billion budget goes to capital expenditure. Of the N166.6 billion approved by Enugu State, 69.12 percent goes to capital expenditure, while 64.01 percent of Kaduna State’s N376.46 billion is devoted to capital spending.

Katsina and Anambra states have 63.48 percent of N289.63 billion and 63.26 percent of N259.9 billion budgets alloted to capital expenditure respectively.

At the bottom is Osun State, with just 28.25 percent of the N138.27 billion approved budget for capital expenditure. Ekiti State has 29.99 percent of its N113.57 billion devoted to capital expenditure.

Nasarawa, Adamawa, and Kogi states’ capital spending amount to 39.31 percent, 40 percent, and 41.11 percent of their approved budgets respectively. The budgets approved by the states are N149.3 billion in Nasarawa State, N175.02 billion in Adamawa State, and N172.09 billion in Kogi State.

Perspectives

A market and budget analyst, Ike Ibeabuchi, said the per capita expenditure of states showed the total budget was relatively small.

“This is just about $25 billion, the same size as Malaysia’s national budget. Malaysia has a population of 34 million and the same budget as all the 36 states. This is not good enough. States must raise their revenue sources. This requires thinking out of the box,” he said.