Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has emphasized the severe financial constraints facing his state, revealing that if all state earnings were divided among residents, each person would receive less than ₦2,500.
Speaking at The Platform, a programme by Lagos-based church Covenant Nation to mark the 2024 Democracy Day, Soludo expressed his empathy for Nigerians’ struggles.
“As a person, for example, I deeply feel the pains of Nigerians at these challenging times, especially the over 100 million Nigerians who are multidimensionally poor.
Times are hard,” he stated. “Sometimes, I just wish that I can give every resident of Anambra maybe a million naira each to ameliorate the hardship that we have, but the reality is that if we get our entire revenue in a month, both from FAAC and from our IGR and put it on the table, call all our estimated 8.5 million residents and share it, nobody will get up to ₦2,500.”
He noted that from the limited state revenue, the government must still cover salaries, gratuities, infrastructure projects, and investments in health and education.
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He highlighted that despite these constraints, the state has recruited over 8,000 new teachers and over 1,000 medical personnel who need to be paid.
Soludo warned that Nigeria faces stringent fiscal challenges and potential technical solvency issues due to low tax revenue and mounting debt.
He cautioned against printing more money as a quick fix, as it would lead to severe inflation, stating, “The Federal Government can resort to an easy way out by printing more money, but after one week or two, a bottle of Coke might be costing ₦1 million.”
