The seven North-Western states collectively owed about ₦223.4 billion in domestic debt as of Q2 2025, according to DMO data.
Kano State ranked highest with ₦56.9 billion, accounting for roughly 25% of the zone’s total debt.
Jigawa remains the least indebted in the region and in the entire country, with only ₦852 million.
Moderate debt spread: While Kano, Zamfara, and Sokoto carried the largest debt loads, the remaining states maintained relatively conservative borrowing patterns.
28 total operational free zones span across 13 states plus the FCT, highlighting a broad but uneven distribution.
Lagos hosts 12 zones, over 40% of Nigeria’s total, making it the clear leader.
Ogun State ranks second with 3 zones, followed by Rivers with 2, while other states have just 1 each.
This distribution underscores a heavy clustering in the Southwest, reflecting Lagos’ dominance as a commercial hub and a drive to spread investment across various regions.
The North-West region received ₦66.55 billion, more than double its remittance (₦28.31B), showing a heavy reliance on federal VAT sharing.
Zamfara, the lowest contributor (₦1.45B), received the highest percentage gain (+433%), getting ₦7.72B, while Kano, the highest contributor (₦9.59B), had the smallest relative gain (+41.5%).
Kaduna and Katsina, despite remitting ₦3.50B and ₦3.86B, received ₦10.18B and ₦10.01B, respectively, nearly tripling their remittance.
Kano remitted 34% of the zone’s VAT but received only 20.4% of the total allocation, reinforcing that VAT is distributed based on equality and not economic strength.
In December 2024, the top five states with the highest average kerosene prices were: Abuja (₦2,950.0), Akwa Ibom (₦2,538.3), Kaduna (₦2,510.6), Cross River (₦2,430.7), and Sokoto (₦2,400.1).
Abuja recorded the highest average price of kerosene in December 2024, while Borno state recorded the lowest price.
The price of kerosene per litre ranged from ₦1,520.4 to ₦2,950 across Nigerian states in December 2024.
The percentage difference in the price of kerosene across Nigeria states in December 2024 is approximately 63.9%.