Isaac Samuel
The Southeast geopolitical zone received the lowest Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursement among Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones between January and May 2026, with its five states receiving a combined N447.55 billion in gross allocations.
An analysis of the allocations to the 36 states by this correspondent on Monday shows that the Southeast accounted for about 10.6 per cent of the total N4.21 trillion gross FAAC allocations shared by the states during the five-month period.
The zone comprises Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states.
Among the five states, Abia received the highest gross allocation of N100.26 billion, followed by Imo with N97.34 billion and Anambra with N92.76 billion.
Enugu received N81.89 billion, while Ebonyi received the least in the zone, with N75.30 billion.
The combined net allocation to the five Southeast states stood at approximately N412.56 billion after deductions.
Background
The Federation Account is the pool into which revenues collected by the Federal Government, including proceeds from oil and gas, customs duties, taxes and other federally collected revenues, are paid before being distributed among the three tiers of government.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, meets monthly to determine the distribution of funds among the Federal Government, states and local governments, as well as other statutory beneficiaries.
For state governments, FAAC remains a critical source of revenue for financing recurrent expenditure, infrastructure, salaries, social services and other government programmes, particularly for states with relatively low internally generated revenue.
The amount received by each state, however, does not depend solely on population or the number of residents.
The allocation formula takes into account several factors, including equality of states, population, social development and internally generated revenue, while oil-producing states also receive additional revenue through the 13 per cent derivation principle.
This helps explain some of the significant differences between the allocations received by states and geopolitical zones.
The latest figures also come against the backdrop of continuing efforts by state governments to reduce their dependence on FAAC through increased internally generated revenue. Despite this, federal allocations remain a major component of the finances of many states.
The disparity is particularly pronounced between the oil-producing South-South states and the Southeast, which has no state benefiting from the 13 per cent derivation allocation.
The South-South geopolitical zone received the highest allocation during the period, with its six states collecting a combined N1.25 trillion in gross FAAC allocations.
Delta led the zone with N327.49 billion, followed by Rivers with N270.61 billion, Bayelsa with N244.85 billion and Akwa Ibom with N241.45 billion.
Edo received N96.74 billion, while Cross River recorded N72.06 billion.
The South-West ranked second with a combined gross allocation of N817.23 billion. Lagos accounted for almost half of the zone’s total, receiving N362.86 billion.
Oyo followed with N131.08 billion, Ondo N101.46 billion, Osun N76.53 billion, Ogun
N74.98 billion and Ekiti N70.30 billion.
The North-West received a combined N682.75 billion, led by Kano with N133.35 billion and Kaduna with N99.17 billion.
The North-Central states collectively received N512.86 billion, while the North-East recorded N501.35 billion.
Thus, the Southeast received N805.65 billion less than the South-South, the highest-receiving zone, during the five-month period.
The gap also means the South-South received about 2.8 times the amount allocated to the Southeast over the period.
Overall, the 36 states received N4.21492 trillion in gross FAAC allocations between January and May 2026, with substantial differences in distributions across the geopolitical zones.
