The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has warned that 1,249 communities across 176 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 33 states and the FCT fall within the high flood-risk areas in 2025.
The warning was issued during the official presentation of the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) by the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, in Abuja.
According to the forecast, an additional 2,187 communities in 293 LGAs across 31 states and the FCT are expected to experience moderate flood risk this year.
In his presentation of the Annual Flood Outlook report, the minister listed the high flood-risk areas including; Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe.
The floods are expected between April and November 2025. The minister, however, did not list the areas under the moderate-risks flooding.
Utsev added that 72 LGAs across the country fall within the high flood-risk areas in the months of April, May and June; while part of the 135 LGAs in the months of July, August and September; and 44 LGAs in the months of October, November and December are within the high flood-risk areas.
While Nigeria regularly experiences seasonal flooding, the floods of 2022 have been the worst since the 2012 floods.
The 2022 flood was reported to have affected 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, with over two million people displaced.
