Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) increased their combined domestic debt by N67.57 billion to N4.59 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, driven largely by a sharp rise in Delta State’s obligations.

Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that the combined domestic debt stock reached N4.591 trillion as of June 30, 2026, compared with N4.524 trillion at the end of March.

The increase represents a 1.49% rise during the quarter.

Delta recorded the largest increase, with its domestic debt climbing by N155.45 billion from N213.85 billion to N369.30 billion.

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The increase in Delta alone was more than twice the overall rise across the states and FCT, as several subnational governments recorded reductions in their debt stocks.

Delta leads states’ debt increase

Delta’s N155.45 billion increase was the largest movement in the DMO’s Q2 data, followed by increases recorded in Edo and Adamawa.

  • Edo’s domestic debt rose by N42.56 billion from N172.37 billion to N214.93 billion.
  • Adamawa increased by N37.68 billion from N64.70 billion to N102.38 billion.
  • Bauchi’s debt rose by N2.90 billion to N157.35 billion, while Yobe increased by N1.11 billion to N96.48 billion.
  • Katsina recorded an increase of N1.08 billion to N13.78 billion, while Nasarawa rose by N517 million to N27.67 billion and Abia by N306 million to N48.63 billion.

The increases were partly offset by reductions across several states and the FCT, resulting in the much smaller N67.57 billion net increase in the combined debt stock.

Lagos remains largest debtor

Lagos retained the largest domestic debt stock among the states despite recording a decline during the quarter.

  • Its debt fell by N9.76 billion from N1.205 trillion in Q1 to N1.195 trillion in Q2, leaving it with about 26% of the combined N4.59 trillion domestic debt stock.
  • Rivers’ debt declined from N362.43 billion to N354.64 billion.
  • The FCT recorded a N31.08 billion reduction, taking its debt from N389.88 billion to N358.79 billion.
  • Enugu recorded the largest reduction among the states, falling by N45.52 billion to N74.51 billion.
  • Other notable declines included Ogun, down N11.69 billion to N189.05 billion; Borno, down N15.72 billion to N72.71 billion; and Taraba, down N5.02 billion to N75.90 billion.

Lagos, Delta, the FCT and Rivers collectively accounted for about 49.5% of the domestic debt stock of the 36 states and FCT at the end of June.

State debt forms part of wider rise

At the lower end of the debt ranking, Jigawa had the smallest domestic debt stock at N1.04 billion, followed by Ondo at N6.16 billion and Anambra at N9.62 billion.

The figures therefore cover domestic obligations reported by the subnational governments as of June 30, 2026, and exclude their external debt obligations.