Governors must be held accountable for Nigeria’s missed development gains

Nigeria’s recent fiscal reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of exchange rates, have led to a significant expansion in government revenues. State governors, in particular, have found themselves in possession of unprecedented financial resources. Yet, almost two years on, the promised developmental gains remain largely unfulfilled. This disconnect between rising allocations and stagnant outcomes raises pressing questions about the quality of subnational governance in Nigeria.

“Investing in education, healthcare, agriculture, and social protection may lack the spectacle of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but these are the foundations upon which resilient, inclusive economies are built.”

In 2024, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed a record N28.78 trillion to the three tiers of government, an increase of nearly 77 percent from the previous year. Most of this windfall accrued to state governments. With this expanded fiscal capacity, state leaders were presented with a golden opportunity to reset priorities and accelerate progress on social and economic development. But evidence suggests that this opportunity is being squandered.

Data from ten states, Adamawa, Borno, Anambra, Lagos, Jigawa, Ogun, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Benue, and Anambra, indicate a consistent pattern: ministries of works, transportation, and construction continue to receive the lion’s share of capital allocations, often exceeding 30 to 70 percent, while human development sectors such as education, health, social protection, and agriculture remain comparatively underfunded, with capital allocations to education and health sometimes falling below one percent. Worse still, even where allocations are made to the social sector, implementation tends to lag. Budget performance reports show that while ministries recorded capital execution rates of over 85 percent in states like Lagos and Akwa Ibom, education and social development ministries, in contrast, often struggled to deliver 60 percent. In extreme cases, such as Abia and Edo, capital performance in education and agriculture fell below 1 percent in early 2025.

These figures speak volumes. They point not just to a question of priorities but to a deeper failure of leadership. Infrastructure remains a visible and politically rewarding investment, and thus, many governors gravitate toward roads, flyovers, and edifices that offer instant recognition. Yet, in a nation with over 18 million out-of-school children, crumbling healthcare facilities, and rising food insecurity, such prioritisation is misguided at best and negligent at worst.

It is important to note that infrastructure, in and of itself, is not the problem. Investments in roads and transport can catalyse growth and improve connectivity. However, infrastructure cannot be a substitute for the deliberate and sustained development of human capital. As former Central Bank of Nigeria deputy governor Kingsley Moghalu rightly noted, “Infrastructure does not in itself constitute development.” A new flyover cannot cure disease or deliver learning outcomes. Nor can a freshly tarred road lift millions out of poverty in the absence of functioning agricultural systems and educational access.

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The chasm between rising public revenues and deepening poverty is particularly worrying. According to a joint report by the World Bank and Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, over 129 million Nigerians are now living below the national poverty line, a sharp increase from 104 million in the previous year. That 25 million additional citizens have slipped into poverty within a single year underscores the severity of the crisis. It also highlights the inadequacy of tokenistic palliatives and short-lived welfare schemes.

State governments are not operating in a vacuum. In addition to FAAC allocations, many enjoy robust internally generated revenues and access to credit markets. What is sorely lacking is the political will to make choices that favour long-term development over short-term optics. Closed procurement processes, poor transparency, and the absence of performance tracking further entrench inefficiency. Budget documents may be published for public consumption, but execution reports, where they exist at all, rarely form part of mainstream civic debate.

The governance challenge is compounded by a public discourse that remains overly focused on the federal government. While Abuja attracts most of the political heat, it is the states that control the primary and secondary schools, basic health centres, rural roads, and water systems that shape everyday life for most Nigerians. Until public accountability shifts decisively toward the subnational level, these failures will persist in the shadows.

It is time for governors to recognise that development is not a matter of optics or patronage but of people. Investing in education, healthcare, agriculture, and social protection may lack the spectacle of a ribbon-cutting ceremony, but these are the foundations upon which resilient, inclusive economies are built.

The federal government has taken politically risky steps in removing subsidies and adjusting macroeconomic policy. However, without meaningful improvements in governance at the state level, these reforms will not yield their intended dividends. The pain of adjustment, rising inflation, high unemployment, and eroded purchasing power, must be met with strategic reinvestment into the wellbeing of citizens, not more elite consumption or bloated bureaucracies.

Ultimately, fiscal space is not development. It is merely a means to it. And while revenues may fluctuate with oil prices or monetary policy, the credibility of governance is measured by results. Nigeria’s state governors now stand at a crossroads. They can continue down the well-trodden path of inefficiency and missed opportunities, or they can choose the harder, but more honourable, route of people-centred governance.

The choice, and the consequences, are theirs.