By Stephen Simon
The World Bank has criticised Nigerian state governments for failing to translate increased revenues into corresponding investments in education, healthcare and social protection.
The global financial institution warned that although states had recorded significant revenue growth following recent economic reforms, spending on transport infrastructure had increased considerably faster than investments in essential social services.
A Senior Economist at the World Bank Nigeria Office, Gloria Joseph-Raji, raised the concerns in Abuja during the launch of BudgIT’s 2026 State of States Report.
She said the bank’s October Nigeria Development Update, which examined budget implementation across the 36 states, revealed that governments had expanded infrastructure spending but needed to pay greater attention to sectors directly affecting citizens’ welfare.
Joseph-Raji attributed the increased revenues to petrol subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, improved tax administration and federal intervention funds.
She, however, warned that dependence on Federation Account allocations continued to expose state finances to fluctuations in federally shared revenues.
BudgIT’s Country Director, Vahyala Kwaga, disclosed that aggregate revenue across 34 states increased from N4.99 trillion in 2022 to N15.53 trillion in 2025.
Despite the improvement, he said the states had spent only N8.60 trillion, representing 24.4 per cent of their combined N35.22 trillion approved budgets, by June 2026.
The report also showed that the total debt of 35 assessed states increased by 10.41 per cent to N11.67 trillion in 2025.
The World Bank urged state governments to strengthen budget implementation and prioritise investments capable of improving living conditions.
