Despite wallowing in debt, Northwestern states spend heavily on refreshments, celebrations
By Aminu Abubakar
A review of the budget performance document by SolaceBase has shown that Northwestern states in the country are highly indebted.
This is according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) as of June 2024.
The report shows that externally, Kano owes $123.3 million, Kaduna $640.9 million, Katsina $112.9 million, Sokoto $52.1 million, Jigawa $25.1 million, Kebbi $57.2 million, Zamfara owes $27.5 million.
The data shows that Kaduna owes the highest amount at $640.9 million.
On the domestic level, Kaduna owes N28.5 billion, Kano N63 billion, Katsina N33.7 billion, Kebbi N15.4 billion, Sokoto N61.8 billion and Zamfara N62.5 billion.
On the domestic level, the Kano state debt portfolio stood at N63 billion.
These debts come with their own demands in debt servicing, experts have lamented that debt servicing figures have left states with less funds for development.
This is as states have continued to spend more money on debt servicing, out of their resources which are said to be scarce and unable to meet fiscal demands.
Despite wallowing in debt, the review shows that North-western States are spending extravagantly per details on their budget performance documents.
For instance, Katsina state spent N189 million on refreshments and meals within six months in 2024, that Is, January and June based on data from the budget performance report of the state.
Kano state spent N129.6 million in the first six months of 2024 per budget performance data.
Also, budget performance data reveals that Zamfara state government spent N804.5 million on foodstuffs and catering supplies within the first nine months of 2024
The state also spent N580 million on special days and celebrations in the nine month period of January and September 2024.
Jigawa state spent N381 million on refreshments and meals in the first nine months of 2024, per details of the state’s budget performance document.
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Honorarium and Sitting Allowance gulped N1.419 billion in the first nine months of 2024.
This development on spending on refreshments and meals, honorarium, amid piling debts and also amid high numbers of poor persons.
There are 4.6 million poor persons in Kano, 2.8 million persons are poor in Katsina, 1.9 million persons are poor in Kebbi, 2.6 million persons are also poor in Sokoto and 1.8 million persons are poor in Zamfara according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Similarly, 51% of households in Kano State are also said to be deprived of sanitary facilities, and another 51% of households are said to be denied access to clean drinking water in Zamfara based on the NBS data.
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