Akwa Ibom State Earns Least from Investments in South-south Region

Akwa Ibom State has recorded the lowest investment income among the five South-south states that released their audited financial statements for 2025. This is surprising since the state has a large portfolio of both quoted and unquoted investments, according to a review by PREMIUM TIMES.

In 2025, Akwa Ibom State reported N249.23 million as investment income. This amount is only 49.8 percent of the N500 million it planned to earn from these investments.

Investment income comes from revenue the government earns through investments. This includes dividends, interest, and returns from shares in companies and other assets. These earnings are usually part of the internally generated revenue (IGR). The poor investment income also affected the state's overall revenue collection for the year.

Akwa Ibom's figure is quite low compared to the investment income reported by other South-south states. Delta State earned N18.29 billion, Edo State made N11.07 billion, Cross River reported N804.96 million, and Bayelsa earned N651.79 million in investment income for the same period. Rivers State did not release its 2025 audited financial statements.

These numbers raise concerns about how well Akwa Ibom is managing its investments. It is worrying that the state only reached about half of its investment income target in 2025.

Over the years, Akwa Ibom has invested in several companies and public enterprises. One notable investment is Ibom Air, a major state-owned airline in Nigeria.

The audited financial statements for 2025 show that Akwa Ibom earned N45.16 million from its unquoted investments. Unquoted investments refer to the state's ownership in companies that do not trade their shares on a stock exchange.

This amount is an improvement compared to the previous two years, where the state reported no investment income from these assets. The last time Akwa Ibom made money from these investments was in 2022, when it reported N110.5 million. The N45.16 million earned in 2025 is less than half of what it made in 2022.

The financial statements list various investments under the Akwa Ibom State Investment Corporation (AKICORP). This includes Anchor Insurance Company, where the state has an 87.01 percent stake, Greenwell Technologies Limited at 90 percent, Ufani Ibom Processing Company Limited at 25 percent, Tropicana Mall at 25 percent, and Falcon Next Company with a five percent stake.

The state also owns 100 percent of several companies listed in the financial documents, such as Ibom Mortgage Finance Bank Limited, Dakkada Global Oil Palm Limited, Ibom Paints Limited (formerly Peacock Paints Limited), Ibom Air, and others.

Given the size of this investment portfolio, the low returns are particularly surprising, especially as the state continues to get significant funds from the Federation Account.

In the 38 months of Governor Umo Eno's administration, Akwa Ibom has received N2.934 trillion in revenue, mainly from the Federation Account. This situation raises worries about Akwa Ibom's ability to generate enough revenue from its own sources.

By late 2025, Akwa Ibom was identified as the Nigerian state most reliant on funds from the Federation Account, with a dependency ratio of 92.66 percent. This raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of its revenue strategy.

The investment income for 2025 shows that Akwa Ibom struggles to turn its large state-owned assets into a steady source of internally generated revenue.

Beyond the N45.16 million from unquoted investments, the state’s total investment income stood at N249.23 million in its 2025 audited financial statements. This means that the remaining N204.07 million likely came from other parts of the state’s investment portfolio, especially those traded on the stock exchange.

But the financial statements do not give enough detail to explain the specific sources of the total N249.23 million or why the state fell short of its N500 million target.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to the Akwa Ibom Commissioner for Finance, Emem Bob, to clarify the state’s investment income. The newspaper asked why the state only earned about half of its investment income target in 2025 and wanted a breakdown of the N249.23 million reported.

Mr Bob did not respond to messages sent via WhatsApp and text. He also did not take calls to his known number.

The Managing Director of AKICORP, Imo-Abasi Jacob, was also contacted for clarification on the N45.16 million from unquoted investments. The newspaper asked him to identify the companies that generated this income and provide a breakdown of the returns from each.

He also did not reply to WhatsApp messages or text and did not answer calls from our reporter.

The lack of responses raises questions about which specific investments generated the N45.16 million and what steps the government is taking to improve returns from its portfolio.

For a state with many commercial and equity interests, the low investment income makes one wonder if these investments are being managed mainly for profits, public service goals, or both.

Regardless, the investment figures from 2025 show that income from investments is a small part of Akwa Ibom’s internally generated revenue, despite the size of the state's assets.