Lagos State, Nigeria’s largest and richest sub-national recorded N2.67 trillion ($2 billion) as total operating revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, according to audited financial statements for the period seen by MoneyCentral.
The major sources of revenue were Taxation Income which grew by 36.2% to N1.413 trillion in FY 2025 (compared to N1.037 trillion in 2024), Statutory allocation from the Federation Account of N816.4 billion (compared to N769.4 billion in 2024), Levies Fees and Fines of N163.8 billion, other revenue of N69 billion and grants of N11.2 billion.
Other revenues included revenues from exchange transactions (income from services, capital receipts, investment income and interest income), totaling N203.8 billion.
Expenses for the 2025 full year totaled N1.025 trillion, comprising wages, salaries and employee benefits of N323.68 billion, grants and other transfers of N42.53 billion, subvention to parastatals of N221.66 billion and general and administrative expenses of N437.93 billion.
Wages, salaries and employee benefits rose by 22.5% in 2025, compared to N264.1 billion in 2024, while general and administrative expenses rose by 44.7% from N302.5 billion in the 2024 Full Year.
This resulted in a surplus for the period before capital items, foreign exchange losses and public debt charges of N1.652 trillion.
Capital expenditure for 2025 FY came in at N302.2 billion, down marginally from N323.92 billion in 2024, public debt charges amounted to N187.8 billion, while there was a net loss of foreign exchange transactions of N29.92 billion, compared to gains of N716.8 billion in 2024.
Depreciation also amounted to N169.23 billion. Lagos recorded a surplus for the 2025 period of N1.023 trillion.
Total assets for the state were N6.169 trillion, with Property, Plant and Equipment being the largest component at N5.26 trillion.
Public Debt
Lagos’s total public debt consists of bond issues, internal loans and external loans.
This was equivalent to N3.07 trillion as at Full Year 2025, up from N2.8 trillion as at December 2024.
External loans made up the vast majority of outstanding debt at N1.905 trillion, followed by internal loans at N595 billion and bond issues at N570 billion.
Internal loans consist of Forty-Seven (47) loan facilities from various local banks with interest ranging from 19% -24% per annum, including facilities from the Central Bank of Nigeria Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement (DCRR) used to finance the Blue line and Red rail Project.
The external loan includes Thirty-One (31) loan facilities for various projects repayable in foreign currencies. The outstanding principal on the foreign loans sums up to about $1.321 billion, with tenors ranging between 20 to 40 years and moratoriums between 5 to 13 years. All foreign loans have been translated to naira using the prevailing exchange rates at the reporting date.
Unexplained Expenses and Accounting Gaps
Under General and Administrative Expenses Lagos State booked N137.76 billion as Consultancy and Professional Services, while another line item, General Expenses gulped N101.33 billion.
Both items were not properly explained further.
Lagos State Government also adopted the accrual basis of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) for its 2025 financial statements; consequently, the Financial Statements were prepared in accordance with the accrual basis of IPSAS.
The IPSAS standards require a full consolidation [aggregation) of all Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAsJ and Parastatal Organizations; however, the consolidation of the Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures of the State Government has not yet occurred and as such, the figures contained in its 2025 Financial Statements presented by the Accountant-General were yet to fully reflect an the activities Of the State Government.
For instance, the under-listed Other classes of valuable assets of the Lagos State Government, were yet to be recognized, measured and eventually brought into the State’s Financial Statements, namely: Investment property, Heritage Assets, Biological Assets, and Concession Assets (where applicable).
“It is necessary to state that the following items were also observably not recognized in the Year 2025 Financial Statements: Full consolidation of Subsidiaries, Associates and Joint Ventures of the State and Related parties’ disclosures,” M.J. Adetola, State Auditor-General said.
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