Ogun State is one of Nigeria's four states that are fiscally and administratively viable. The States internally generated revenue (IGR) is the second largest after, Lagos State (which is its geographically smaller neighbour) and its federation account allocation (FAAC) is the 34th largest in the country (or what amounts to the fourth-lowest of the 36 States and Abuja, FCT). With a landmass of 16,409.26sq km (the second largest in the South West and the twenty-fourth (24) largest in the country) Ogun State has one of the largest arable land areas in Nigeria with massive room for industrial and agricultural expansion, unlike the less geographically endowed. Ogun State has a population of 7m people and is potentially the industrial epicentre of the South West Nigeria economy.

Debt can be a dangerous thing and Ogun State is finding this out the hard way. The state's escalating debt profile is causing increased anxiety amongst Fiscal policy analysts.  The state debt deductions from its Federation Account Allocations rose from N4.3bn in 2015 to N12.4bn in 2016, a leap of +188%. The state total domestic debt as at the end of 2015 rose from N74bn to N79bn in 2016, a rise of +6.7%. This is relatively modest in absolute growth terms but when considered as a proportion of total liabilities of the state of N113bn in 2016, the heavy 70% burden is significant. On the other hand since external debt is only 30% of total state liabilities, foreign currency debt risks appear mild. In addition domestic debt servicing fell from N19bn in 2015 to N12bn in 2016, representing a fall of -35%. This is good from the standpoint of fiscal balance as lower debt service could or should translate into higher budgetary commitments to capital outlays. Nevertheless, dampening the positive decline in domestic debt service was a significant rise in foreign debt obligations which rose from $618m in 2015 to $749m in 2016, a 21.2% rise in foreign debt commitment.