Kano Governor Abba Yusuf Spends 88.5% of ‘Other Recurrent’ Funds on Debt Repayment in Just Six Months

Secrets Reporters

Mining the 2025 Kano State Budget performance, SecretsReporters has discovered trends suspected to be budget fraud. Kano State Government officials released the second quarter 2025 budget implementation report through the Ministry of Planning and Budget in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, revealing unusually rapid spending in the category known as other recurrent expenditure, usually used for diversion of public funds by state actors across states.

For Kano, this category, which covers public debt servicing, grants and contributions, subsidies, and transfer payments under economic account classes 2203 to 2209, saw cumulative disbursements reach ₦20,484,975,618.84 by the end of June. That figure represents 88.5 percent of the original approved annual allocation of ₦23,154,385,548.08, far exceeding the typical mid-year benchmark of around 45 to 50 percent for balanced implementation.

The second quarter alone contributed ₦12,807,207,120.71 to this total, building on the first quarter’s already substantial outlay of ₦4,874,115,667.89 under public debt charges, which stood at 40.2 percent of the annual provision at that early stage. Public debt charges under code 2206 ultimately hit ₦14,892,270,046.60 by mid-year, surpassing the original ₦12,137,421,548.08 budget allocation with a 122.7 percent performance rate. Related breakdowns show foreign interest and discount payments amounting to ₦853,157,775.68, domestic interest and discount at ₦1,945,277,156.57, and domestic principal repayments in sub-lines climbing dramatically to 277.2 percent of their budgeted amounts.

Subsidies under code 2205 recorded ₦3,202,666,327.24 spent against a ₦2,728,886,000.00 provision, achieving 117.4 percent utilization, with much of the funding directed toward support for public institutions. Grants and contributions under code 2204 reached ₦2,355,916,685.00 for 29.5 percent of the ₦7,974,553,000.00 allocation, while transfers of a general character between different levels of government under code 7018 stood at ₦75,431,000.00 against ₦1,150,000,000.00, equating to just 6.6 percent. Public debt transactions under functional code 7017 aligned closely with the debt charges pattern, posting ₦15,387,514,868.86 cumulative spending for 119.9 percent performance on the ₦12,837,421,548.08 line.

In contrast to this accelerated pace, the broader recurrent expenditure envelope totaled ₦115,236,020,242.44 for January to June, achieving 43.9 percent of projections. Personnel costs stood at 37.7 percent and overheads remained below expectations. Recurrent revenue, including FAAC allocations and internally generated revenue, reached ₦235,444,909,110.17 for 38.2 percent performance, while capital receipts and expenditure lagged significantly at 12.2 percent and 19.9 percent respectively. The report attributes some capital underperformance to non-disclosure of project drawdowns and notes efforts to improve tracking, but it provides no detailed justification for the front-loaded spending in the other recurrent category beyond mentioning overperformance in certain personnel and overhead codes that required amendments submitted to the State House of Assembly.

Later quarterly reports reflect adjustments to the fiscal framework. The third quarter revised the full-year appropriation for other recurrent expenditure upward to ₦45,761,450,067.80, with cumulative spending from January to September advancing to ₦29,691,540,816.93, or 64.9 percent of the new envelope, including a third-quarter addition of ₦9,206,565,198.09. By the end of the fourth quarter, the annual total reached ₦33,492,036,575.72, representing 73.2 percent of the revised budget, with that period contributing ₦3,800,495,758.79. Debt management administrative codes under 022001300100 continued showing low utilization in sub-items, such as ₦406,484,000.00 with limited draws in subsequent periods.

The official documents detail aggregate debt servicing lines that exceeded original provisions early in the year before aligning with the expanded envelope. However, they do not specify the exact domestic or foreign obligations settled, the recipients of particular grants or subsidies, or whether the rapid mid-year drawdown stemmed from scheduled amortization schedules or responses to unanticipated liabilities. Capital expenditure across the full year remained subdued compared to recurrent components, highlighting a disproportionate focus on debt-related, grant, subsidy, and transfer payments during the initial half of 2025 and the subsequent revision of the overall fiscal plan.