Kano govt, ex-commissioner trade words over 2025 budget Performance

A disagreement has erupted between the Kano State Government and a former commissioner who served under ex-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje over how the 2025 budget was carried out in the state. The clash became public on Thursday after former Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Muhammad Garba, faulted Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration for what he described as poor budget implementation from January to September 2025.

Garba, who is also Chief of Staff to the former APC national chairman, said an online budget review showed that capital projects received less than 40 percent funding within the first nine months of the year. He argued that the figures showed a clear gap between the promises made by the government and what he believes is happening on the ground. He singled out the water sector, saying the state water board got billions for capital work but did not use the funds during the review period. He questioned how a government that announced a state of emergency on water could record zero spending on key projects.

Garba also pointed to the Tiga Hydropower Project, accusing the administration of leaving it idle and continuing to depend on power from KEDCO, which he said drains the state resources each month. He added that the education sector was not performing well, saying both the Ministry of Education and Higher Education achieved low capital spending. He claimed that many schools remain in poor shape, and he dismissed the state’s foreign scholarship programme as politically influenced.

On health, Garba said the low level of spending out of the approved allocation was dangerous, warning that poor investment in water and health infrastructure was worsening disease outbreaks. He also described ongoing road projects as poorly done and said rolling out a trillion-naira budget for 2026 while struggling with the current budget made little sense.

However, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Umar Haruna Muhammad Doguwa, rejected all the accusations and said Garba’s claims were one-sided and political. Doguwa explained that many projects only moved into full implementation in the third and fourth quarters, which is why earlier figures looked low. He said the present government inherited over two billion naira in unpaid power bills from the previous administration, which badly affected water pumping. He added that the Tiga Hydropower Project was abandoned without the transmission system needed to make it work.

Doguwa said the state is now repairing major water facilities, buying new pumps, and paying for electricity and chemicals on time. On education, he said the former commissioner ignored the fact that more than a thousand basic schools are being built or upgraded and that over twelve thousand new teachers were recruited. He said the foreign scholarship scheme is only one part of a wider plan to improve education.

On health, Doguwa explained that upgrades are ongoing in more than seventy health centres, and spending depends on procurement schedules. He defended the road works, saying they include total reconstruction with drainage, which takes more time and causes temporary traffic delays.

Speaking on the proposed one-trillion-naira 2026 budget, Doguwa said the state’s rising revenue, blocked leakages, and increased federal inflow make the new plan realistic. He described Garba’s comments as routine opposition remarks and said people should wait for the end-of-year report before passing judgment.

The debate between both sides continues as residents wait for clearer details on the full-year budget performance.