ABUJA — The Federal Government has warned that 33 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, may experience varying degrees of flooding during the 2026 rainy season, with over 30,000 communities projected to be affected nationwide.
Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Joseph Utsev, raised the alarm on Wednesday during the official launch of the 2026 Annual Flood Outlook (AFO) in Abuja, describing the forecast as a critical guide for national preparedness.
According to him, 14,118 communities in 266 local government areas across 33 states and the FCT fall within high flood-risk zones, while 15,597 communities in 405 LGAs are classified under moderate risk, and 923 communities in 77 LGAs fall under low-risk categories.
States listed under high flood risk include Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, and the FCT.
The minister warned that between April and November 2026, flood impacts are expected to cut across agriculture, livelihoods, livestock, infrastructure, and the environment, with peak risk periods projected between July and September.
“High flood risk areas between April and November 2026 will significantly affect population, agriculture, livelihoods and infrastructure,” Utsev said.
He further cautioned that flash and urban flooding are likely in major cities including Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Benin City, Makurdi, Onitsha and others, attributing the threat to intense rainfall and poor drainage systems.
Coastal states such as Bayelsa, Delta, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, Ondo and Cross River, he added, are also expected to face tidal surge and sea-level rise, with implications for fishing, river navigation and coastal livelihoods.
Utsev called for stronger collaboration among all stakeholders, stressing that government alone cannot address the scale of the challenge.
“Government alone cannot achieve these goals. We must work with development partners, research institutions, civil society and the private sector,” he said.
He urged state governments to integrate flood risk into land-use planning and urban development, warning that failure to manage floodplains and drainage systems would worsen disaster exposure.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), Umar Ibrahim Mohammed, said the 2026 forecast had been upgraded into a “Flood Risk Intelligence Architecture” supported by hybrid AI modelling to improve accuracy and early warning systems.
He noted that the agency had also enhanced its Flood Dashboard into a geo-intelligence platform capable of real-time monitoring and impact-based forecasting.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, commended the collaboration among agencies, noting that improved technology was strengthening Nigeria’s ability to predict and mitigate flooding impacts.
He, however, warned that despite advances in forecasting, effective preparedness at state and community levels remained crucial to reducing the humanitarian and economic toll of flooding.
The Federal Government said it would continue to expand hydrological monitoring systems, deploy automated river gauges, and strengthen data-sharing mechanisms to improve national flood resilience.
