Tinubu’s Reforms Raise Nasarawa Allocation From ₦4.5bn To ₦16bn Monthly — Sule
Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for implementing what he described as bold economic reforms, saying the removal of fuel subsidy and other measures have increased the state’s monthly allocation from the Federation Account from about ₦4.5 billion to approximately ₦16 billion.
Sule made the remarks on Saturday in Lafia, the state capital, when he received members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors National Media Tour, led by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The team, comprising presidential media aides and more than 50 senior journalists, is on a nationwide inspection tour of Federal and state government projects across the North-Central region.
According to Sule, the sharp increase in federal allocations has provided Nasarawa with greater fiscal space to execute major infrastructure projects and address the developmental needs of its citizens.
The governor said the difference in the resources available to the state before and after the reforms was significant, stressing that his administration had remained transparent in the utilisation of public funds.
“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,” Sule said.
He recalled that during the early years of his administration, states were sharing between ₦590 billion and ₦620 billion monthly from the Federation Account.
Sule said Nasarawa was receiving between ₦3.8 billion and ₦4.5 billion monthly at the time, limiting the government’s ability to embark on major capital projects.
He acknowledged that the removal of the fuel subsidy and other economic reforms initially imposed significant hardship on Nigerians but said Tinubu demonstrated political courage by taking responsibility for difficult decisions he believed were necessary to reposition the economy.
The governor stressed the need for effective communication of government policies, particularly reforms that may be painful in the short term but are intended to improve the country’s economic capacity and strengthen the ability of governments at all levels to deliver public services.
According to him, Tinubu took the bullet on behalf of state and local governments by implementing the reforms that eventually freed up more resources for the three tiers of government.
“Today, we are beginning to see the benefits because the resources available to us have increased tremendously,” Sule said.
He added that the additional revenue had enabled his administration to undertake several landmark projects across Nasarawa, including road infrastructure, industrialisation, education, healthcare and water supply projects.
The governor also commended the Renewed Hope Ambassadors National Media Team for embarking on the nationwide tour, saying it would give Nigerians an opportunity to independently assess the impact of government policies and projects.
He said the exercise would enable the public to see first-hand projects being executed by both the Federal and Nasarawa State Governments and determine how far the Renewed Hope Agenda is translating into development at the grassroots.
During the Nasarawa leg of the tour, the team inspected 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, which connects 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.
Onanuga, while speaking during the tour, commended Tinubu for what he described as the “exceptional courage” to remove the fuel subsidy and implement economic reforms that previous administrations had repeatedly acknowledged as necessary but failed to carry out.
“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,’” Onanuga said.
He noted that the administration subsequently floated the naira and ended the multiple exchange-rate regime, acknowledging that the measures triggered inflation and widespread hardship in the first year.
“The first year was very difficult. But later, things got better,” he said.
Onanuga also recalled Sule’s early support for Tinubu’s reforms, saying the governor had publicly defended the President’s decision at a time when the policies were generating widespread criticism.
“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 that the reforms had effectively freed up resources that state governors had long sought to use in developing their respective states.
“So, what the President did was to free up resources that the state governors have been longing for to develop their states,” he said.
Also speaking at the Makurdi bypass inspection site, 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 was evidence that the Renewed Hope Agenda was making an impact.
“The quantum of work and infrastructure development witnessed across Benue and Nasarawa states indicates that the Renewed Hope Agenda is working,” he said.
