The 17 newly elected governors of Nigeria will be taking over a staggering N2.1 trillion in domestic debt and $1.9 billion in foreign debt from their predecessors.
Additionally, a few of the first-term governors-elect will be facing many months of unpaid workers’ salaries and mounting pension liabilities, including agitation for the implementation of the nationally agreed minimum wage, skyrocketing inflation, increasing prices of goods and services, and the ever-reducing purchasing power.
Meanwhile, the Debt Management Office has estimated the country’s total domestic debt at N21,551,924,507,448 as of September 30, 2022, while foreign creditors were owed $39.66 billion.
Some of the governors-elect will have to face the problem of disgruntled employees and pensioners as a result of their predecessors’ failure to pay the past workers on time.