The Anambra State Government has formally rejected the 2025 PCL State Performance Index report, which placed the state among Nigeria’s lowest-ranked in terms of livability, dropping from eighth in 2024 to 34th. The government described the report as “deeply flawed and misleading,” challenging both its methodology and conclusions.

Chiamaka Nnake, Anambra’s Commissioner for Budget and Planning, said in a statement issued Friday in Awka that the ranking relied on an “unscientific and biased methodology” that failed to reflect the state’s actual performance.

She pointed out that the report’s findings were based on a sample of only 78 respondents, a number she deemed inadequate for a state with more than six million residents.

“By accepted statistical standards, the sample size is invalid. Worse still, 76 per cent of respondents were male, making the data unrepresentative and biased,” Nnake said.

She also criticised the report’s emphasis on perception and expenditure data, arguing that it did not measure tangible development outcomes across sectors.

The commissioner highlighted several achievements under Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s administration that she said were overlooked. These included the provision of free education from nursery to SS3, recruitment of more than 8,100 teachers, and a 27 per cent increase in student enrollment. She noted that Anambra had ranked first nationally in a 2024 UNICEF-led healthcare challenge, with over 120,000 women accessing free maternal care across state health facilities.

Infrastructure development, according to Nnake, was also disregarded. She cited the completion of more than 546 kilometres of roads, along with several flyovers and strategic bridges constructed over three years.

“It’s unfortunate that in spite of these achievements, PCL ranked Anambra 30th in Health and failed to reflect significant development indicators across key sectors,” she said.

The commissioner urged Philips Consulting Limited to adopt rigorous methodologies in future assessments, including representative sampling, proper fieldwork, and outcome-based indicators.

“You cannot sit in Lagos or Abuja and rank states based on the opinions of a few people. This reduces serious governance efforts to mere propaganda,” she said.