Abia State has emerged as the leading state in Nigeria in terms of public spending priorities, scoring 90.9 out of 100 in a 2026 assessment by SysIN Insights.
The assessment, published by Statisense, places Bayelsa State in second position with 85.7 points, followed by Akwa Ibom with 69.3 points, Ebonyi with 68.3 points and Edo with 64.7 points.
Anambra State also scored 64.7 points, tying with Edo, while Enugu recorded 63.6 points to occupy the seventh position. Rivers and Gombe followed with 61.5 and 61.2 points respectively, while Delta completed the top 10 with 60.7 points.
Other states in the top 15 include Lagos (58.2), Kwara (56.6), Niger (55.0), Ekiti (51.6) and Bauchi (50.6).
The report showed that Katsina scored 49.8 points, Imo 49.5, Borno 45.9, Nasarawa 45.8, Adamawa 45.7, Kaduna 43.6, Yobe 43.5 and Jigawa 42.9.
Taraba recorded 39.2 points, Zamfara 38.7, Kano 38.2, Benue 35.2, Oyo 34.5, Osun 32.7, Kebbi 32.0, Sokoto 30.5 and Kogi 29.5.
The bottom five positions were occupied by Ondo with 22.8 points, Cross River with 22.5, Ogun with 20.8, while Plateau ranked last with 14.3 points.
According to the assessment, the scores were based on states’ capital, health and education spending in 2024, with higher scores indicating stronger public spending priorities.
The geographical breakdown showed that 17 states from the southern part of the country and 19 northern states were covered in the assessment, which included all 36 states.
Abia’s 90.9-point score placed it 5.2 points ahead of Bayelsa, the second-ranked state, highlighting the difference between the two states in the assessment.
The findings provide a comparative overview of how Nigerian states prioritised capital expenditure and key social sectors, particularly health and education, in the 2024 fiscal year.
