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The Nyesom Wike administration in Rivers State has taken full credit for the good health ascribed to the state government in BudgIT report on ‘state of the states’, that placed the oil-rich state as lowest in debts among the top four.
In the report released by BudgIT Nigeria, a budget transparency advocacy group, Rivers State is placed first ahead of others including Lagos because of its healthier financial profile, especially in terms of increase in internally generated revenue (IGR), lower debt profile, and ability to pay its bills and service its debts with comparative ease.
The state says it came tops in the newly published Fiscal Sustainability Index Report because of the frugality of the Wike-led administration in the management of public resources.
In a statement released on Sunday, in Port Harcourt, the state commissioner for information and communications, Emma Okah, citing the report, said Rivers, Lagos, Ogun and Kano states were ahead of the other states in terms of IGR. However, while Lagos records the highest IGR in Nigeria, its huge debt of over N734 billion as of December 2016, gives Rivers an edge in terms of fiscal sustainability, the report said.
According to Okah, “This report is an endorsement of visionary leadership as the Gov Wike administration in the State will continue to promote the wellbeing of our people, initiate laudable programmes and execute projects that will improve the living standards of Rivers people.”
