Nigeria: Akwa Ibom States’s Debt Burden

By Etim Etim

There have been a great deal of controversy and secrecy around the quantum and composition of debts owed by Akwa Ibom State government to the banks and contractors, especially the portion incurred by the Akpabio administration. The problem is exacerbated by the apparent cold war between the incumbent governor Udom Emmanuel and his predecessor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, over governance and political issues in the state.

*Akpabio and Emmanuel 

Governor Emmanuel has persistently blamed his lacklustre performance in the last three years on the huge debt burden he inherited from his predecessor. He’s trenchantly criticized Akpabio for investing the state’s resources on worthless projects like the Tropicana Entertainment Complex which had remained uncompleted after over N150 billion had been sunk into it.

Late last year, the governor complained publicly that his administration was compelled to pay Julius Berger N6 billion in a lump sum, in addition to an undertaking to make a monthly payment of a billion naira to the construction company to offset government’s obligation.