Anambra State Government has rejected the 2025 state performance index rating branding the state as one of the worst state to live in the country.
In the report released on Thursday, by Philips Consulting Limited, PCL, the Charles Soludo-led state was rated 34th while Oyo state comfortably sits on the top of the performance table.
There are 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
Reacting to the report, the state, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs Chiamaka Nnake, faulted the methodology, saying other international rating organisations have rated Anambra high, describing PCL report as flawed, biased and lacking in credibility.
The commissioner said the state has performed better than many states in the country, citing key performance index such as health, infrastructure, Education, adding that agencies such as UNISEF and Dangote Foundation among others rated the state high in these areas.
Part of the statement: “Philips Consulting Limited, once renowned for its expertise in human resource services, now appears to have veered into areas far beyond its traditional competence. Everyone now rushes into the business of ‘ranking’ as the new fad in town.
“While it is not wrong for a firm to broaden its scope, such ventures demand rigorous training, capacity development, and methodological soundness. Without these, credibility is compromised, and reputations are put at risk.
“The 2025 PCL State Performance Index raises fundamental questions: What capacity does PCL have to rank Nigerian states? How was this research designed, and on what basis were such sweeping conclusions drawn? Increasingly, intellectuals and observers alike are asking whether PCL is losing strategic focus and has joined the crowd of spurious rating agencies.
“For context, in the 2024 edition, Anambra was ranked 8th. Even then, we were amused by the methodology and its results, and we never took it seriously. Now, in 2025, with a phantom change in methodology, the state suddenly plunged to 34th. Such dramatic swings within one year should have compelled any serious consultant to re-examine assumptions, refine data, and validate findings perhaps via field engagement, not publishing questionable outcomes.
“Methodological flaws – PCL claimed 78 respondents for Anambra State, a population of over 6 million people (adjusted 2022 census estimate). By the widely accepted Cochran’s formula, a minimum of 385 respondents is required for a five percent margin of error, while 9,593 respondents are required for one per cent margin of error. Anything less introduces serious levels of sampling error.
“Sample distribution bias – PCL admits that 76 per cent of its respondents were male. A credible survey must proportionally represent age, gender, income, and employment status, drawn from census or reliable population data. By skewing so heavily toward one gender and failing to stratify properly, the research was fundamentally compromised.
“Over-reliance on spending without outcomes – The report appears to emphasise state expenditure levels without adequately measuring the efficiency or tangible outcomes of such spending. By focusing on the absolute amount spent rather than juxtaposing it with the real impact achieved, the analysis risks overlooking whether resources are being utilized effectively – Value for Money.
“Lack of ground engagement – No evidence exists that PCL engaged stakeholders, visited communities, or conducted any direct validation of outcomes in Anambra. Findings were inferred without context, first-hand observation, or alignment with verifiable state-level data.
“Contradictions with verifiable data – Education: Anambra is a national leader in education. Since September 2023, the state has implemented truly free education from Nursery to JSS3, extending this to SS3 in 2024 in all public schools. Enrolments rose sharply—27.05 per cent increase in primary and 10.36 per cent increase in secondary schools—bringing the state’s out-of-school rate to just 2.9 per cent (lowest out of 36 states and FCT, UNESCO).
“Additionally, over 8,115 teachers were recruited transparently and competitively and have continued to transform the Education Infrastructure. Without measuring learning outcomes and teacher/teaching quality, any educational ranking is incomplete.
“We are not aware of any other state where a government recruited 8,115 teachers within the first two years in office to end the era of schools without teachers. Over the past two years we have also been massively investing smartly in upgrading physical and technological infrastructure in the schools, and our students and teachers continue to win national and international awards. It will also be nice to know which State(s) do better in these milestones,” she added.
According to the commissioner, in 2024, the National Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge Awards (assessed by UNICEF, Dangote Group, NGF, and the Gates Foundation, among others) ranked Anambra number one in the South-East and number one in Nigeria, awarding Anambra $1.2m in recognition.
“We understand that the rankings were done by an international team of about 15 consultants who visited every state and the FCT. This is in addition to the celebrated revolutionary policy on free antenatal and free delivery in all public hospitals, which has benefited over 120,000 women in two years, as well as massive investments in general hospitals, telemedicine, and tertiary services.
“Anambra’s child mortality rate is second only to Lagos state, and patronage of public hospitals has moved from 25 per cent in 2022 to 73 per cent currently— a historic record, etc. This contrasts sharply with PCL’s ranking of Anambra at 30th in Health—a glaring inconsistency that underscores the superficiality of their approach.
“Infrastructure – the state has awarded 842.2 km of roads in three years (including 8 bridges and flyovers), completing 546.3 km to date, including over 150km dualization projects— earning multiple awards for transformative infrastructure delivery. Yet, PCL’s methodology manages to underplay these tangible achievements.”
