Nigeria, May 13 -- Governor Francis Nwifuru's administration in Ebonyi State obtained a N20 billion domestic loan in the first quarter of 2026, despite the absence of any publicly available record showing that the borrowing received approval from the Ebonyi State House of Assembly as required under the state's Fiscal Responsibility Law.

The borrowing was disclosed in the Ebonyi State 2026 First Quarter Budget Performance Report reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES.

The report showed that the state secured N20 billion under "Domestic Loans/Borrowings from Financial Institutions" between January and March 2026.

The amount represents 10.7 per cent of the N186.9 billion domestic borrowing approved in the state's 2026 budget for the full fiscal year....