The Anambra State Government has strongly rejected the 2025 PCL State Performance Index (PSPI), describing it as “deeply flawed, biased, and misleading.”
This follows the state’s dramatic fall from 8th position in 2024 to 34th in the latest ranking.
Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs. Chiamaka Nnake, issued the statement on Friday, September 19, in Awka.
She accused Philips Consulting Limited (PCL), the authors of the index, of adopting an unscientific approach that does not reflect reality on the ground.
According to her, the report relied on a survey of just 78 respondents, which she said was statistically invalid for a state with a population of over six million people.
“By accepted statistical standards, the sample size is invalid,” Nnake noted.
She added that the report was further compromised because 76 percent of the respondents were male, making the data unbalanced and unrepresentative.
The commissioner also faulted the heavy reliance on perception and expenditure data.
She argued that PCL failed to evaluate measurable development outcomes or actual results achieved by the Anambra State Government in key sectors.
Nnake outlined what she described as ignored milestones.
These included the introduction of free education from Nursery to Senior Secondary 3, the recruitment of over 8,100 teachers, and a 27 percent increase in school enrollment across the state.
She further highlighted achievements in healthcare.
Anambra ranked first nationally in a UNICEF-led healthcare challenge in 2024, while over 120,000 women had accessed free maternal care in public health facilities.
Despite this, she said PCL ranked the state 30th in health, a position she described as grossly unfair.
In the area of infrastructure, Nnake stressed that the state had completed over 546 kilometers of roads in the last three years, along with several flyovers and strategic bridges.
“It’s unfortunate that in spite of these achievements, PCL failed to reflect significant development indicators across key sectors,” she said.
The commissioner called on PCL to adopt more rigorous and transparent research methods.
She recommended proper fieldwork, representative sampling, and the use of outcome-based indicators that reflect real governance progress.
“You cannot sit in Lagos or Abuja and rank states based on the opinions of a few people,” she added.
“This reduces serious governance efforts to mere propaganda.”
The rejection by Anambra has sparked renewed debate about the credibility of independent performance rankings in Nigeria.
While such reports are often used to measure governance impact, critics say many lack scientific depth and sometimes fail to capture ground realities.
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