Enugu's 2025 accounts record N4.31bn of new foreign loans; their loan note adds N15.18bn for an erosion project with no recorded receipt

Enugu State's foreign debt grew by $12,825,619.03 in 2025, from $87,052,939.52 to $99,878,558.55, according to the Debt Management Office's tables for the end of 2024 and the end of 2025. The state's own accounts for the year, as the State Auditor-General reproduces them in his report dated 30 June 2026, record N4,305,771,300.00 of new foreign loans received. Their note on external loans shows where the rest of the growth sits: two entries for the World Bank-financed Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), worth N15,177,947,163.60 together, for which the cash-flow statement records no receipt. The Auditor-General, Dr Livinus Okoro, wrote that one of the amounts "was not stated and assumed to be received this year" and that the adjustments "were not clearly explained".

The cash-flow statement, on pages 11 and 12 of the Auditor-General's report, lists "Proceeds from External Loans" of N4,305,771,300.00 and "Repayment of External Loans" of N6,584,280,407.23. Both figures match Note 17 on pages 63 and 64. The N4,305,771,300.00 is the closing balance of a new International Development Association (IDA) loan for the Nigeria for Women Scale-Up Project, the only loan in the note with no opening balance and no repayment; at the year-end exchange rate the note's own figures imply, N1,435.2571 to the dollar, it is $3 million. The N6,584,280,407.23 is the total of the note's principal repayment column.

Note 17 lists fifteen external loans. Thirteen had balances at 1 January 2025, and twelve of those were lower by 31 December. The thirteenth, the original NEWMAP loan, rose from N13,634,816,626.55 to N19,803,636,576.52, an increase of N6,168,819,949.97, through an entry of N6,352,557,271.63 in the adjustments column, the only positive adjustment in the table. A second line, "Nigeria Erosion and Watershed management Project (Additional Financing)", has no opening balance, records a principal repayment of N271,419,436.86, interest of N130,542,505.92 and an adjustment of minus N140,876,930.93, and ends the year at N8,825,389,891.97. The N6,352,557,271.63 adjustment and the N8,825,389,891.97 balance add to N15,177,947,163.60. Neither appears in the cash-flow statement.

The Auditor-General's report deals with both entries on pages 13 and 14. "The sum of N143,351,410,305.88 shown in the Financial Statements as External Loans balance for the year ended 31st December, 2025 could not be confirmed due to lack of evidencing records," it says, and the N6,584,280,407.23 of repayments "was not confirmed". It continues: "The amount on Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (Additional Financing) was not stated and assumed to be received this year. The Interest Amount of N6,352,557,271.63 for this year on earlier loan received in the same Project was not paid. The adjustments carried out were not clearly explained as either Setoff or earlier paid by the State." His opinion on page 31 nonetheless states that the statements "show a true and fair view" of the state's financial position, "as express in the observations contained in my report".

The rise is not an effect of the exchange rate, which worked the other way. The note's figures for its one bilateral loan, from the lender it calls AFDI, show the conversion: N6,141,270,400.00 at the start of the year and N5,023,399,850.00 at the end, which are $4,000,000 and $3,500,000, the amounts the DMO lists as Enugu's bilateral debt, at N1,535.3176 and N1,435.2571 to the dollar. At the closing rate, the state's opening foreign debt of $87,052,939.52 was worth about N124.94bn. Without new borrowing the naira balance would have fallen during 2025; instead it rose by N9,697,500,133.79.

On the balances themselves, the state and federal records agree. Note 17's opening total, N133,653,910,172.09, is the DMO's $87,052,939.52 at N1,535.3176 to the dollar, and its closing total, N143,351,410,305.88, is the DMO's $99,878,558.55 at N1,435.2571, in each case to within the rounding of the rate. The DMO's tables also show the make-up of the rise: multilateral debt up $13,325,619.03, to $96,378,558.55, and bilateral debt down $500,000. The federal record therefore supports what the Auditor-General could not confirm, that Enugu owed more abroad at the end of 2025 than at the start. What neither record shows is how the NEWMAP money reached the state. World Bank project loans are often paid into project accounts or straight to contractors rather than through a state treasury; the accounts do not say whether that is what happened here.

The note's printed totals do not follow from its own rows. The adjustments total is printed as N2,153,577,825.94, which is the sum of the thirteen negative adjustments shown as a positive number; the positive N6,352,557,271.63 is left out. The opening column adds to N133,653,610,192.09, N299,980.00 less than the printed N133,653,910,172.09, a difference that matches two rows, for the National Urban Water Sector Reform Project and its additional financing, which miss their own arithmetic by N300,000.05 and minus N20.00. Every other row with an opening balance follows one rule to within nine kobo: opening balance, less principal, less interest, plus adjustment, gives the closing balance.

The state's domestic debt figures tie to the DMO to the kobo, but rest on records the Auditor-General says he was not shown. The DMO puts Enugu's domestic debt at 31 December 2025 at N157,603,315,151.74. That is the sum of three figures from the accounts: internal loans of N54,842,023,856.57, gratuities of N37,788,940,024.85 and contractual obligations of N64,972,351,270.32. Of the first, the report says "documents authenticating the loans, interest rates or repayments terms were not made available for confirmations"; the gratuities were "not verified" because registers of beneficiaries were not provided; and the contractual obligations "could not be verified to ascertain its correctness". With the foreign debt, that leaves N300,954,725,457.62 of the state's debt unconfirmed by its own auditor.

Part of the domestic figure can be checked within the accounts. Note 16 on page 62 starts the year with N29,102,551,301.87 of internal loans, adds a new Zenith Bank loan of N50,000,000,000.00 and deducts principal repayments of N24,260,527,445.30, which gives the closing N54,842,023,856.57; the same N50bn and N24.26bn appear in the cash-flow statement. Between the DMO's tables for the end of 2024 (N119,284,430,106.62) and the end of 2025, Enugu's domestic debt rose by N38,318,885,045.12, of which internal loans account for N25,739,472,554.70.

Most of the state's revenue from the Federation Account also checks out against the federal Accountant-General's tables for the twelve 2025 meetings of the Federation Account Allocation Committee. Note 3 on page 34 puts value added tax at N83,684,986,116.92, the same to the kobo as the twelve gross VAT figures for Enugu in Table III. The deductions for foreign debt in the report's table on pages 17 and 18, N7,598,343,522.19, differ from the federal figures by 15 kobo. The same table's total deductions, N10,643,748,602.64, are N1,484,615,612.54 more than the federal tables show, N9,159,132,990.10. The difference is the table's "ecological fund" deductions for April and July to December; in those months the federal tables record no deduction beyond foreign debt and N78,644,312.34 a month for restructured bank loans, and in October to December the amounts equal the state's whole ecology share, which the federal tables show as paid.

The documents establish that Enugu's external debt rose in 2025 by more than the new loans its accounts record as received, that the DMO's figures agree with the accounts' balances, and that the state's auditor could not confirm those balances or account for the two NEWMAP entries. They do not establish that any money is missing or misused: a loan paid by a lender directly into a project would raise the debt without passing through the treasury, and the documents do not show how the NEWMAP funds were spent. Vero Record did not put the figures to the Enugu State Accountant-General, the Auditor-General or the NEWMAP project office before publication; the comparison rests on their published report and the federal tables.

What this rests on

Report of the Auditor-General on the Accounts of the Government of Enugu State for the year ended 31 December 2025 (65 pages, dated 30 June 2026, published on enugustate.gov.ng in July 2026), printed page numbers (PDF page = printed + 1): cash-flow statement pp.11 to 12; liabilities pp.13 to 14; deductions table pp.17 to 18; opinion p.31; Note 3 (VAT) p.34; Note 16 (internal loans) p.62; Note 17 (external loans) pp.63 to 64. DMO, States, FCT and Federal Governments' External Debt Stock at 31 December 2024 and at 31 December 2025, Enugu row; DMO domestic debt of states at 31 December 2024 and 31 December 2025, Enugu row. OAGF FAAC disbursement reports, Table III, January to December 2025, Enugu row. Arithmetic re-done. DMO external: 99,878,558.55 - 87,052,939.52 = 12,825,619.03; multilateral 96,378,558.55 - 83,052,939.52 = 13,325,619.03; bilateral 3,500,000.00 - 4,000,000.00 = -500,000.00. Note 17 naira: 143,351,410,305.88 - 133,653,910,172.09 = 9,697,500,133.79. Implied rates: 6,141,270,400.00 / 4,000,000 = 1,535.3176; 5,023,399,850.00 / 3,500,000 = 1,435.2571; 133,653,910,172.09 / 87,052,939.52 = 1,535.3176; 143,351,410,305.88 / 99,878,558.55 = 1,435.2571; 4,305,771,300.00 / 1,435.2571 = 3,000,000.00; 87,052,939.52 x 1,435.2571 = 124,943,349,521.95. NEWMAP: 19,803,636,576.52 - 13,634,816,626.55 = 6,168,819,949.97; 13,634,816,626.55 - 27,831,579.24 - 155,905,742.42 + 6,352,557,271.63 = 19,803,636,576.52; 6,352,557,271.63 + 8,825,389,891.97 = 15,177,947,163.60. NEWMAP AF: 0 - 271,419,436.86 - 130,542,505.92 - 140,876,930.93 = -542,838,873.71 against a printed closing of 8,825,389,891.97. Negative adjustments 182,304,297.22 + 36,875,127.46 + 490,381,239.73 + 79,608,772.57 + 68,345,243.60 + 55,130,363.47 + 218,129,699.55 + 24,957,211.43 + 47,731,661.94 + 138,910,913.61 + 584,005,065.55 + 86,321,298.88 + 140,876,930.93 = 2,153,577,825.94 (printed adjustments total). Opening column re-added 133,653,610,192.09 against printed 133,653,910,172.09, difference 299,980.00; NUWSRP 13,642,298,587.20 - 1,256,905,248.32 - 123,844,263.11 - 68,345,243.60 = 12,193,203,832.17 against printed 12,193,503,832.22 (300,000.05); NUWSRP AF 6,395,301,694.32 - 142,482,242.55 - 61,007,864.27 - 47,731,661.94 = 6,144,079,925.56 against printed 6,144,079,905.56 (-20.00); AFDI row -0.05, Agro-Processing row +0.09. Printed totals: 133,653,910,172.09 - 6,584,280,407.23 - 1,591,198,970.49 - 2,153,577,825.94 = 123,324,852,968.43; 143,351,410,305.88 - 123,324,852,968.43 = 20,026,557,337.45, of which 6,352,557,271.63 + 8,825,389,891.97 + 4,305,771,300.00 = 19,483,718,463.60 and 542,838,873.71 (the NEWMAP AF repayment, interest and adjustment taken from a zero opening balance); the last N0.14 lies in kobo differences between rows and printed totals. Principal column re-added 6,584,280,407.20 (printed .23); interest 1,591,198,970.47 (printed .49). Domestic: 54,842,023,856.57 + 37,788,940,024.85 + 64,972,351,270.32 = 157,603,315,151.74 (DMO 157,603,315,151.74); + 143,351,410,305.88 = 300,954,725,457.62. Note 16: 29,102,551,301.87 + 50,000,000,000.00 - 24,260,527,445.30 = 54,842,023,856.57; rise 25,739,472,554.70. DMO domestic 157,603,315,151.74 - 119,284,430,106.62 = 38,318,885,045.12. FAAC, federal Table III Enugu gross VAT January to December 2025: 6,478,226,264.93 + 7,758,659,012.51 + 6,555,132,572.53 + 6,454,780,491.77 + 6,435,949,959.13 + 7,409,688,092.83 + 6,958,737,692.50 + 6,901,738,082.69 + 7,199,011,472.30 + 8,892,969,040.26 + 7,340,304,627.03 + 5,299,788,808.44 = 83,684,986,116.92 (Note 3 total 83,684,986,116.92; its April line prints 6,454,780,491.97). Federal external debt deductions 1,045,863,175.83 + 6 x 443,524,391.66 + 5 x 778,266,799.25 = 7,598,343,522.04 (report 7,598,343,522.19, which uses 778,266,799.28 for August to December). Federal total deductions (external debt plus other deductions) by month, January to December: 1,185,289,268.51; 646,716,183.03; 654,926,354.63; 522,168,704.00; 678,502,830.80; 664,805,387.18; 522,168,704.00; then 856,911,111.59 in each of the five months August to December; total 9,159,132,990.10, equal in each month to total gross less total net amount. 10,643,748,602.64 - 9,159,132,990.10 = 1,484,615,612.54. Report's ecological column for April and July to December: 153,136,223.64 + 171,973,632.07 + 222,483,151.74 + 248,093,622.32 + 210,836,047.50 + 235,848,984.48 + 242,248,577.68 = 1,484,620,239.43; less the June gap of 4,626.94 (federal other deductions above 78,644,312.34 are 142,636,683.18 against the report's 142,632,056.24), less 0.10 in January, plus the 0.15 foreign-debt difference = 1,484,615,612.54. Federal ecology share October 210,836,047.50, November 235,848,984.48, December 242,248,577.68, each with no deduction. The report's September row prints a total of 1,015,004,733.94; its parts 778,266,799.28 + 78,644,312.34 + 248,093,622.32 add to 1,105,004,733.94.

What this does not establish

How and when the NEWMAP additional financing (N8,825,389,891.97) and the N6,352,557,271.63 adjustment on the original NEWMAP loan were disbursed, into which account, and on what; whether the adjustment is a disbursement, a capitalised charge or a correction, given that the Auditor-General describes it as unpaid interest. Whether the World Bank paid the funds directly to a project account or to contractors. The loan-by-loan dollar balances behind the DMO's state totals, which the DMO does not publish. The make-up of the N12,579,412,490.42 of the DMO's domestic rise not explained by internal loans, because the 2024 gratuity and contractual obligation balances were not checked. Why the report's ecological fund column lists deductions in months when the federal tables show none. The Accountant-General's own report with the financial statements (500 pages) was published as a scanned file and was not read page by page; the figures here are taken from the Auditor-General's report, which reproduces the statements and notes. Nothing in the documents shows that money is missing or that anyone acted unlawfully. No comment was sought from the Enugu State Government before publication.