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Following our publication of “State of States: Quick Factsheet 2016”, we received correspondence from Anambra State Government seeking clarification about the data used for the report and subsequently providing an update about the state.

Before we present the information we received from the State, BudgIT will like to reiterate the source of data used for our publication. The data used for our report came from the following sources

• State Monthly FAAC Allocation: Federal Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant General of the Federation websites.
• State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR): National Bureau of Statistics
• Debt Stock: Debt Management Office, Abuja

Most states in Nigeria do not publish detailed budget, publicly available information are scanty and limited to budget summary as contained in the Budget Speech by State Governors. In the past, our effort to gather data from the state yielded no result, cost a lot of resources, put our team members in danger and delayed our report. We resolved to use available information that will allow us to apply the same standard to all states. Our Research team took care to examine all media reports relating to each state budget and extracted relevant information.

Anambra was no different. We relied on the budget speech delivered to the Anambra State House of Assembly by the governor for information about the state budget. We encourage states to share detailed information about their finances with their citizens.

Since the release of our report and subsequent news media coverage, we have read statements from various states denouncing the report. Our experience with Anambra was a little different. They sought to know the source of our data and how we arrived at our number, subsequently providing current data about the state’s finance. 

Based on the information provided, it is clear that Anambra State can cover their recurrent expenditure without having to borrow. Anambra State’s average monthly revenue is N3.72bn; average monthly expenditure is N3.16bn, leaving her with about N560m. This information puts the state in the same league with Lagos, Rivers and Enugu States. We emphasised to Anambra State Government the need to disclose this information proactively to avoid this challenge next year. We present the 9-months expenditure profile of Anambra State.