Buhari: Five Wealthiest States In Nigeria

On Monday at the 25th Nigeria Economic Summit, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that a few Nigerians who are in control of the country’s prosperity reside in the five wealthiest states of the federation.

Buhari did not however, mention the name of these states, leaving a lot of people wondering what the names of these states are.

The president had said: “A significant proportion of Nigeria’s prosperity today is concentrated in the hands of a few people living primarily in four or five states and the FCT. Some of the most prosperous Nigerians are here in this room.

“This leaves the remaining 31 States with close to 150 million people in a state of expectancy and hope for better opportunity to thrive. This, in the most basic form, drives the migratory and security trends we are seeing today both in Nigeria and across the region,” he added.

In view of the president’s assertion, THE WHISTLER takes a look at the following five states which may just be the states the president had in mind.

Lagos ($33.679 billion)

Lagos tops the list of the 5 wealthiest states in Nigeria. It is located in the South West region. It covers only 3.577 square kilometres, but it has the total population around 18 million people. The total GDP of the state is $33.679 billion, per capita is $4.333. The state is the nations most urban area. Its the fifth largest economy centre in the whole Africa and the major economic centre of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The state also has an average monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of 34 billion and an annual IGR of up to N334 billion.

In 2018, the state had a budget of N1,046 trillion naira, while it also passed a total of N873,532,460,725 for 2019.

Rivers State ($21.073 billion)

Rivers is one of the wealthiest state in Nigeria. It covers an area of 11.077 square kilometres. The population of the state is around 5.2 million people. The total GDP of the state is $21.073 billion, per capita is $3.965. The region is rich in vast reserves of natural gas and crude oil. More than 60% of Nigerian crude oil output. Moreover, Rivers State also houses Port Harcourt.

The state is next to Lagos in terms of revenue generation.It has an average yearly Internally Generated Revenue of 85 billion naira.

The state had a budget of N510billion for 2018 and N480, 411, 324, 647 for 2019.

The JTB reports puts Rivers IGR for 2017 at 89,484,983,409.10.

Delta State ($16.749 billion)

Located in the South region of the country, Delta has an overall population of 4.1 million people.

It’s GDP is $16.749 billion, per capita is $3.990. It`s rich in natural resources, like limestone, decorative rocks, tar sand, kaolin, lignite, silica and industrial clay. Delta state also has one of the largest deposits of crude oil and natural gas in Nigeria.

Unconfirmed reports puts the annual Internally Generated Revenue of the state at N44 billion.

It had a budget of N308 billion for 2018, while that of 2019 is N390.3 billion

Delta State IGR for 2017 stood at 51,888,005,338.33 according to JTB.

Oyo State $16.121 billion

The State is located in South West region of Nigeria. It`s one of the top 20 richest states of Nigeria. The overall population is around six million people. It’s GDP is $16.121 billion, per capita is $2.666. The major part of the economically active population works in the agricultural sector of the state. Oyo state produces cashew, palm oil, cocoa, plantains, rice, millet, cassava, yam and maize.

The state had a budget of N271.7 billion for 2018 and 182.4 billion naira for 2019.

The JTB report revealed that Oyo had N 22.4 billion as IGR for 2017.

Imo State $14.212 billion

The state is located in the South East of Nigeria. It’s GDP is $14.212 billion, per capita is $3.527. Imo state is rich in natural resources, like zinc, natural gas, crude oil, lead, limestone, fine sand and white clay. There are over 163 oil wells in the state. The main petroleum companies in the region are Agip, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Corporation and Addax Petroleum.

The state had a budget of N190 billion for 2018 and N250 billion for 2019.

The state got N6.9 billion in IGR for 2017 according JTB.

Imo got 1,872,879,765.17 from FG also in June.