The Anambra State Government has faulted the 2025 state performance index rating conducted by Philips Consulting Limited, saying that it relied on flawed methodology, weak sampling, and biased inferences to arrive at its result.
The ‘2025 PCL State Performance Index’ report released by the organization, rated Anambra as one of the worst states to live, and one of the “underperforming” states, a report the state government disagreed with, insisting that the rating agency did not follow due diligence.
The Anambra State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Chiamaka Nnake, rejected the report, saying the PCL 2025 report produced results that are not only misleading but risk damaging its own professional reputation.
Nnake insisted that Anambra is performing well in all sectors, such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and security, saying that serious international organizations adopted rigorous, verifiable methods and ranked Anambra at the top.
She added that despite the rating by serious international agencies, the firm simultaneously ranked Anambra at the bottom, noting that the credibility gap of the PCL’s rating was impossible to ignore.
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The statement partly read, “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 not losing strategic focus and has joined the crowd of spurious rating agencies.”
The state government said it was amused by the methodology used by the firm and stated that its results were not taken 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,” it added.
The commissioner also listed what it described as “methodological flaws, sample data bias, over-reliance on spending without outcomes and lack of ground engagement” in the PCL rating.
PUNCH
