Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed that the states of Lagos and Rivers, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) jointly account for 43.27 per cent of the country’s total N4.52 trillion debt stock in Q1 2026.

According to the DMO data contained in its first-quarter 2026 domestic debt report released, Monday, the two states and the FCT have taken out a combined totalof N1.96 trillion in the first quarter of the year under review.

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In a state-by-state breakdown of the domestic debt profile, the DMO data also revealed that Lagos accounted for more than a quarter of the total of the country’s debt stock.

Lagos had the highest domestic debt stock at N1.21 trillion, representing about 26.6 per cent of the combined total.

The FCT followed with N389.88 billion, while Rivers State had N362.43 billion.Delta State recorded N213.85 billion, followed by Ogun State with N200.75 billion.

However,Jigawa State accounted for the smallest domestic debt stock at N1.60 billion, followed by Ondo at N7.31 billion and Anambra at N9.62 billion.

The figures highlight the concentration of domestic debt among a relatively small number of states, with the five largest debtors accounting for a substantial share of the combined stock.

Similarly, several states recorded debt stocks below N20 billion. These included Ebonyi at N12.30 billion, Katsina at N12.69 billion and Kebbi at N14.58 billion.

The DMO’s state-level domestic debt data provides a breakdown of the outstanding domestic obligations of Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT.

The combined domestic debt stock of the states and FCT increased by N163.25 billion, or about 3.7 per cent, between December 2025 and March 2026.

The increase was driven by changes across individual states, with the FCT recording the largest rise during the period. Its debt stock increased from N188.86 billion in December 2025 to N389.88 billion in March 2026.

Edo also recorded a significant increase, with its debt stock rising from N91.18 billion to N172.37 billion. Borno increased from N42.64 billion to N88.44 billion, while Yobe rose from N81.00 billion to N98.59 billion.

However, data also show that some of the largest debtors recorded declines for this year.

Lagos’ debt stock fell from N1.22 trillion in December to N1.21 trillion in March, while Rivers declined from N378.81 billion to N362.43 billion.Delta’s debt stock fell from N248.83 billion to N213.85 billion, while Ogun declined from N227.47 billion to N200.75 billion.

The DMO’s Q4 2025 data showed that the 36 states and the FCT had a combined domestic debt stock of N4.36 trillion.

It would be recalled that in January, this year, the Lagos State House of Assembly passed a N4.44 trillion budget for the 2026 fiscal year. However, by the first half of the year, the state has already generated N1.67 trillion in recurrent revenue, representing 90 per cent of its half-year target.