**Nasarawa’s monthly allocation rises from N4.5bn to N16bn

 

President Bola Tinubu “took the bullet” for Nigeria’s states and local governments by implementing difficult economic reforms that previous administrations had acknowledged as necessary but repeatedly deferred, Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule and the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, have said.

The duo said the removal of fuel subsidy, unification of the foreign exchange market and other reforms had initially triggered economic hardship but subsequently created greater fiscal capacity for the three tiers of government.

Sule, who spoke in Lafia when he received members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors National Media Team on a nationwide project inspection tour, disclosed that Nasarawa State’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account had risen from between N3.8 billion and N4.5 billion before the reforms to approximately N16 billion.

According to him, the increase in resources has given the state government greater capacity to undertake major infrastructure and development projects across the state.

“Today, we are beginning to see the benefits because the resources available to us have increased tremendously,” Sule said.

The governor acknowledged that the reforms created significant difficulties in their initial phase but commended Tinubu for demonstrating the political courage to take responsibility for decisions that had long been considered necessary for the Nigerian economy.

He said the President’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy and implement other reforms had effectively freed up resources previously consumed by subsidy payments, allowing more funds to flow to states and local governments.

“He took the bullet for the sub-nationals,” Sule said, stressing that the additional resources had enabled Nasarawa to expand investments in roads, education, healthcare, water supply and industrialisation.

Sule also advocated stronger communication of government policies, saying citizens needed to understand the rationale behind difficult economic decisions and how such measures were intended to strengthen the economy over time.

“For us in Nasarawa State, we are very transparent. I came from the private sector, so every contract I give, I announce the amount that we are spending on that contract, so that people can now see the difference with the kind of money we are receiving,” he said.

The governor recalled that before the reforms, the country’s monthly distributable revenue was substantially lower, with Nasarawa receiving between N3.8 billion and N4.5 billion from the Federation Account.

He said the increase in allocations had created the fiscal space required for his administration to execute projects that would otherwise have been difficult to finance.

Onanuga, who led the media team comprising presidential media aides and more than 50 senior journalists, said Tinubu’s decision to embark on the reforms demonstrated exceptional political courage.

“Actually, when President Tinubu came in 2023, he initiated some audacious reforms that ought to have been introduced some decades ago. But the country kept postponing them until he came and, from Day One, uttered that famous phrase, ‘subsidy is gone,'” he said.

According to Onanuga, the administration subsequently floated the naira and ended the multiplicity of exchange rates, measures which initially fuelled inflation and generated widespread complaints about hardship.

“The first year was very difficult. But later, things got better,” he said.

Onanuga specifically recalled Sule’s early support for the reforms, saying the Nasarawa governor had publicly defended the President’s decision and recognised the potential benefits for sub-national governments.

“I must thank His Excellency, Governor Sule, for supporting the President at that moment. I think he was the one who came out on television… when he said that what the President has done is something that should be commended and that the President actually took the bullet for the sub-nationals,” Onanuga said.

He added: “So, what the President did was to free up resources that the state governors have been longing for to develop their states.”

The Renewed Hope Ambassadors National Media Team, during its inspection of projects in Nasarawa State on Saturday, visited the completed multi-billion-naira state secretariat housing the Ministries of Education; Housing and Urban Development; Health; and Justice, as well as the 1-megawatt solar farm powering the complex along Shendam Road.

The team also inspected the completed 16-kilometre Makurdi bypass in Lafia, connecting Nasarawa and Benue states; the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Vocational and Skills Acquisition Centre; the Shinge Waterstorm Channel; and the completed Kilema Bridge along the Lafia-Doma Road.

Also speaking at the Makurdi bypass inspection, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Enlightenment, AbulAziz AbdulAziz, said the scale of infrastructure development witnessed across Nasarawa and Benue states showed that the Renewed Hope Agenda was producing tangible results.

The nationwide media tour is designed to give journalists first-hand access to federal and state government projects and enable Nigerians to assess the impact of government policies and investments on communities.