Katsina to spend N3bn on Gov Dikko’s travels in 2026 amid developmental challenges

By Aminu Abubakar

A SolaceBase review of the Katsina State 2026 approved budget has shown that Governor Dikko Umar Radda plans to spend N3 billion on travels within the fiscal year, raising questions about the state’s spending priorities amid persistent public health and sanitation challenges.

According to details contained in the approved budget document, the governor plans to allocate N1.1 billion to international travels, while N1.9 billion is earmarked for local travels in 2026. The figures indicate a continuation of heavy expenditure on official movements, despite mounting social and infrastructural needs across the state.

Budget performance records further show that between January and September 2025, Katsina State spent N1.081 billion on local travels for Governor Radda, in addition to N607 million spent on international travels for the governor during the same period. These expenditures suggest that travel costs remain a significant recurrent expense for the state government.

Beyond travel, the 2026 budget also reveals plans to spend N2.1 billion on foodstuffs and catering materials supply. This allocation follows a similar pattern in the previous fiscal year, as records indicate that between January and October 2025, the state spent N1.2 billion on foodstuffs and catering materials supply.

Taken together, spending on travels and catering alone accounts for over N5 billion in planned expenditure, underscoring the prominence of recurrent costs in the state’s fiscal framework.

Katsina State’s spending and budgeting patterns have, over time, drawn scrutiny from various quarters, particularly when juxtaposed with ongoing challenges in essential sectors such as water, sanitation, and public health. While large sums are allocated on paper for water and sanitation projects, budget performance reports consistently show low levels of actual implementation.

In the first half of 2025, this disconnect became evident. Despite allocations running into billions of naira for water and sanitation-related projects, only a fraction of the funds translated into tangible outcomes. During the same period, many communities across the state continued to experience poor sanitation conditions and limited access to clean drinking water.

Read Also: Federal lawmaker renovates 80 cemeteries as constituency project in Zamfara

Available data indicate that about 61 percent of households in Katsina State lack access to basic sanitary facilities, while nearly 40 percent of households do not have access to clean water. These figures highlight significant infrastructural gaps, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, where water and sanitation facilities are often inadequate or nonexistent.

The implications of these gaps have been repeatedly highlighted by recurrent outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases in the state. Data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) show that Katsina State recorded 21 cholera cases between the first and ninth epidemiological weeks of 2025, reflecting the continued vulnerability of communities to preventable diseases linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation.

The trend has been consistent over several years. In June 2024, the Katsina State Government confirmed 110 suspected cholera cases across multiple local government areas. The outbreak further strained the state’s already burdened health system and drew attention to longstanding deficiencies in water supply and sanitation infrastructure.

Earlier records also paint a grim picture. In September 2021, Katsina State reported over 150 deaths from cholera, with at least 5,677 cases recorded across the state. The figures were compiled from hospitals and primary healthcare centres, indicating the widespread nature of the outbreak. Prior to that, in 2018, eleven people were confirmed dead following a cholera outbreak that affected six local government areas, including Funtua and Kusada.

These repeated outbreaks have placed Katsina among Nigerian states struggling to contain diseases that are largely preventable through sustained investment in clean water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure.

Despite these realities, budget performance documents show comparatively low spending on water and sanitation agencies. In the first half of 2025, only N360.5 million was expended on the Rural Water and Sanitation Agency. This figure stands in sharp contrast to the N1.089 billion spent on foodstuffs and catering materials supply within the same period.

The disparity between spending on essential services and recurrent administrative costs highlights ongoing questions about fiscal prioritisation. For a state facing recurring cholera outbreaks and widespread lack of access to clean water and sanitation, the relatively low level of expenditure on water-related interventions raises concerns about long-term public health outcomes.

Civil society records and public budget analyses have consistently shown that investments in water and sanitation yield measurable benefits, including reduced disease burden, improved productivity, and enhanced quality of life. Conversely, sustained underfunding of these sectors often results in higher health-related expenditures and repeated emergency responses to disease outbreaks.

As Katsina State enters the 2026 fiscal year, the approved budget provides a clear snapshot of government priorities. While substantial resources are allocated to travels and catering, critical sectors such as water and sanitation continue to receive comparatively limited attention in actual spending, leaving longstanding challenges unresolved.