By Muhammad Mamman
The Anambra State Government has rejected the 2025 PCL State Performance Index, which ranked the state among Nigeria’s worst places to live after it slipped from 8th in 2024 to 34th.
In a statement issued on Friday in Awka, Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Chiamaka Nnake, described the report as “deeply flawed and misleading,” accusing Philips Consulting Limited (PCL) of using “unscientific and biased methodology.”
She criticised the reliance on just 78 respondents — 76 per cent of whom were male — as an invalid sample for a state of over six million people. “By accepted statistical standards, the sample size is invalid and unrepresentative,” she said.
Nnake argued that the report ignored tangible achievements, including free education from nursery to SS3, the recruitment of over 8,100 teachers, and a 27 per cent rise in school enrolment. She also cited healthcare milestones such as Anambra’s top national ranking in a UNICEF-led health challenge, and over 120,000 women accessing free maternal care.
On infrastructure, she noted the completion of 546 kilometres of roads in three years, as well as new flyovers and strategic bridges delivered under the current administration.
“It’s unfortunate that despite these achievements, PCL ranked Anambra 30th in health and failed to capture significant progress across key sectors,” she added.
The commissioner urged PCL to adopt more rigorous methodologies, including representative sampling and outcome-based indicators, warning that reducing governance efforts to “mere propaganda” undermines serious development work.
