Anambra State’s latest ranking in the revised 2026 PCL State Performance Index has reopened debate over the state’s development trajectory, with the state placed 27th nationally after an earlier first-place position.
Anambra State has slipped to 27th position nationally in the revised 2026 pcl. State Performance Index, recording a composite score of -0.22, according to the latest assessment by Phillips Consulting Limited.
The ranking places Anambra behind fellow South-East states Abia, which ranked second, and Enugu, which ranked third nationally. The revised report, released on September 25, 2026, incorporated newly available FY2025 audited financial statements and revised aspects of the methodology used in the initial July assessment.
The figures have generated renewed political debate in Anambra, particularly among supporters of former Governor Peter Obi, who have contrasted the state’s current position with its earlier performance under Obi.
Peter Obi’s media aide, Valentine Obienyem, in a statement titled “Anambra: From First to 27th,” questioned whether the increase in financial resources available to the state has translated into corresponding improvements in measurable development outcomes.
According to Obienyem, the development represents a significant reversal in the state’s performance trajectory. He also compared the approximately ₦25 billion monthly revenue he attributed to the present administration with the roughly ₦3 billion monthly he said was available to previous administrations.
The argument has become one of the central issues surrounding the latest ranking: if the resources available to the state have increased substantially, have the measurable outcomes improved by a corresponding margin?
From first place to 27th
The latest ranking is particularly significant because PCL’s revised assessment is not simply a repetition of its July report.
Phillips Consulting said the initial 2026 index was based on FY2024 audited financial statements because those were the latest accounts available at the time. Following the release of FY2025 audited accounts, the firm reviewed and recalculated the index.
The revised methodology also separates current performance from performance trajectory, providing two different lenses through which state performance can be examined.
Under the revised assessment, Jigawa occupies first place nationally, followed by Abia and Enugu, while Anambra is ranked 27th. Business Hallmark reported that Anambra and Ebonyi recorded the largest declines among South-East states in the revised assessment.
The development has consequently placed renewed attention on the question of how Anambra has performed across successive editions of the PCL index.
More resources, bigger expectations
The financial comparison has added another dimension to the debate.
Anambra’s 2026 budget was set at approximately ₦757.88 billion, compared with ₦606.99 billion in 2025. The state government said 79 percent of the 2026 budget was allocated to capital expenditure, with major increases projected across education, health, infrastructure and other sectors.
The state’s own first-half 2026 budget performance report, however, showed that only ₦174.54 billion in revenue had been realised against an annual projection of ₦766.37 billion, representing 22.8 percent of the target. Of the amount realised, ₦124.24 billion came from FAAC while ₦44.94 billion was internally generated revenue. Total expenditure during the period stood at ₦143.63 billion, or 18.7 percent of the annual budget.
These figures provide important context to the broader argument about revenue. While allocations to states have increased significantly in recent years, the actual amount available to a state government is affected by FAAC receipts, internally generated revenue, deductions and the level of budget implementation.
The Anambra government has also stated that it continues to service loans inherited from previous administrations. The state Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said in September that deductions are made from the state’s FAAC allocation to repay loans obtained by previous governments, while maintaining that the Soludo administration has not borrowed from commercial banks since taking office.
Soludo administration points to projects
The administration has consistently rejected the suggestion that its performance can be adequately measured by external rankings alone.
In presenting its 2026 budget, the government highlighted a range of projects and programmes, including road construction, bridges, healthcare facilities, primary healthcare centre upgrades, teacher recruitment, youth empowerment and digital-skills programmes.
The state government said the administration had constructed more than 900 kilometres of roads, with about 600 kilometres asphalted, undertaken eight bridges, dualised more than 100 kilometres of federal and state roads, recruited more than 8,000 teachers and modernised 326 primary healthcare centres.
The government has also previously challenged PCL’s rankings.
In 2025, when PCL ranked Anambra 34th, the state’s Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Chiamaka Nnake, questioned the methodology, including the sample size used in the assessment. She described the report as methodologically weak and misleading and argued that a survey involving 78 respondents could not adequately represent a state with more than six million residents.
That history is important in interpreting the latest ranking. The current PCL assessment has been revised since its original July release, and the consultancy itself acknowledged methodological changes in producing the definitive 2026 edition.
A fresh test of public accountability
The controversy nevertheless goes beyond the ranking itself.
For critics of the Soludo administration, the movement from an earlier first-place position to 27th raises questions about governance performance, fiscal management and the conversion of public resources into measurable outcomes.
For the government and its supporters, the relevant assessment should include the roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, security investments, social programmes and other projects undertaken during the administration, while also taking into account the methodology and limitations of external rankings.
The latest PCL report therefore provides another benchmark in an increasingly intense debate over Anambra’s development record.
At the heart of that debate is a straightforward question: has the dramatic increase in resources available to Anambra translated into a corresponding improvement in the quality of governance and public services?
The answer will ultimately depend not only on rankings, but on independently verifiable evidence of spending, project completion, service delivery, economic outcomes and citizens’ welfare.
For now, the numbers have provided fresh ammunition for both sides of the argument: Anambra is ranked 27th in the revised 2026 PCL assessment, while Abia and Enugu occupy second and third positions respectively.
