Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has said the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account has surged to between N14 billion and N16 billion from N3.8 billion–N4.5 billion before 2023, enabling the government to execute projects worth about N90 billion without bank borrowing.
Sule attributed the increase to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy and foreign exchange reforms, which he said had freed funds previously expended on subsidies.
The governor disclosed this on Saturday while receiving the Renewed Hope Ambassadors Presidential Media Team, led by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, at the Government House in Lafia.
The team is touring the North-Central states to verify federal and state projects and assess the impact of the Federal Government’s reforms.
Sule said the sharp increase in revenue had given the state the financial capacity to undertake major infrastructure and human-capital projects without resorting to loans.
“I can tell you for free, Nasarawa State is receiving an average of 14 to 16 billion every month,” he said.
He listed some of the projects financed by the state to include the N16.7 billion Mararaba dual flyover, N7.1 billion Akwanga township dualisation, N6.6 billion Akwanga underpass, N5.6 billion Shendam Road dualisation, N3.3 billion storm-water channel at Amba Bridge and the N11.4 billion Keffi flyover.
According to the governor, expenditure on the projects has so far reached about N90 billion.
Sule said such spending would have been difficult under the state’s previous revenue profile, recalling that the government struggled in 2019 to secure a N5 billion bond for a market project.
He insisted that the ongoing projects were being executed without bank loans, crediting Tinubu’s reforms with improving the state’s fiscal position.
“All the projects we are doing in Nasarawa State today at no borrowing from the bank is as a result of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s support,” he said.
The governor also highlighted investments in vocational training, healthcare and agriculture, including a skills acquisition centre offering training in 12 trades, an ongoing specialist hospital in Akwanga and a 10,000-hectare rice farm.
Onanuga said the media team was in the state to verify the deployment of resources made available through the Federal Government’s reforms.
He described Nasarawa as an emerging industrial hub under Sule’s administration.
The Secretary to the State Government, Labaran Shuaibu Magaji, SAN, said the visit reflected the strong partnership between the Nasarawa State and Federal Governments.