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• Kebbi govt dismisses ADC allegation of mismanaged resources
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From Ola Muhammad, Birnin Kebbi
Kebbi State has emerged as the best-managed state in Northern Nigeria and ranked fifth among the 36 states of the federation in the 2026 BudgIT State of States Report.
The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Abba Sani Kalgo, disclosed this during a press conference in Birnin Kebbi.
Kalgo explained that the remarkable achievement underscored the prudent management of public resources, fiscal discipline and commitment to sustainable development under the administration of Governor Dr Nasir Idris.
While presenting the findings of the report, which assessed the fiscal performance of states in the 2025 financial year, Kalgo dismissed what he described as fabricated and false statements by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which had alleged that the state government mismanaged government resources.
According to him: “Out of the nineteen states of northern Nigeria, Kebbi stands first. This is a remarkable achievement for a state that does not possess the largest population, the largest economy or the largest federal allocation in the region, and it is a testament to what disciplined leadership and sound fiscal management can accomplish.
“In the broader national picture, Kebbi is ranked fifth in the federation, placing the Land of Equity among the five best-managed states in Nigeria.
“It is important to be precise about the nature of this assessment. It is not a self-evaluation by the Kebbi State Government. It is the independent judgement of an organisation that has, for more than a decade, scrutinised the public finances of Nigerian states without fear or favour and whose findings have on many occasions been unwelcome to those in power.
“The index is built on four pillars. It measures the ability of a state to meet its operating expenses and debt obligations from its own revenue, the viability of its fiscal position, the sustainability of its debt and the priority it gives to spending on agriculture, health, education, water and sanitation.”
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Reacting to the ADC allegation, Kalgo challenged the opposition party to study the report and objectively assess the administration’s performance, stressing that constructive criticism anchored on verifiable facts remained essential to democratic governance.
He said: “The allegations of the ADC were not founded on data, on audited accounts or on any document in the public domain. They were founded on the expectation that unsubstantiated claims, if repeated with sufficient frequency, would come to be accepted as fact. The people of Kebbi State have rightly declined to accept them.
“The evidence of this administration’s work is visible in communities, in the roads under construction, in the teachers recruited into our schools, in the agricultural support extended to farmers, and in the health and water facilities delivered across the state.
“What is most striking is that, even now, with the independent findings before them, the ADC has shown no inclination to retract a single word. Their campaign is lame, and its authors know no shame.
“It is appropriate to observe that the African Democratic Congress has never held executive responsibility in this state. It has never prepared a budget, administered a payroll, serviced a loan or delivered a public project. Its contribution to public discourse on the finances of Kebbi State has consisted of commentary unaccompanied by evidence.
“Let me state the position of this administration without ambiguity. We will take no lectures on fiscal responsibility from a party that has never been entrusted with a kobo of public money and has demonstrated, through its conduct this year, that it cannot be trusted with the truth.
“This administration does not object to opposition. Opposition is a legitimate and necessary feature of democratic governance, and a serious opposition that engages with the facts would be welcomed by this government. What this administration objects to is the deliberate misrepresentation of the fiscal condition of the state for partisan advantage.
“I therefore extend a formal invitation to the leadership of the ADC in Kebbi State. Study the report. Examine the figures and give kudos to this administration where kudos are due, because this administration will not rest on this ranking.
“The governor has made it clear that recognition is not an end in itself. Our task in the year ahead is to sustain the growth in our own revenue, to complete the projects under construction across the twenty-one local government areas, and to ensure that every expenditure is converted into a functioning road, a staffed school, an equipped clinic or a flowing water scheme. That is the standard by which we ask to be judged,” he insisted.
