Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has said the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu have significantly increased the funds available to state governments, enabling them to undertake projects aimed at improving the lives of residents.
Gatekeepers News reports that Sule made the remarks on Saturday in Lafia while receiving journalists and members of the presidential media team who were in the state to inspect projects being implemented by both the federal and state governments.
According to the Governor, the removal of the petrol subsidy came at a cost to Tinubu, who, he said, “took bullets” on behalf of state governors by implementing the controversial policy.
Sule explained that before the subsidy was removed, Nasarawa State received between N3.8 billion and N4.5 billion monthly from federal allocations, while its local governments received between N1.9 billion and N2.5 billion.
He said the state’s monthly allocation has since risen to an average of N14 billion to N16 billion following the subsidy removal.
The Governor said the increased revenue had enabled his administration to execute several projects without resorting to bank loans, arguing that Tinubu’s reforms created the fiscal room needed to fund such developments.
“All the projects we are doing in Nasarawa state today, without borrowing from the bank, are as a result of president Bola and his support,” he said.
“So, you must give him the credit for that. Without the reforms, we would not have had the resources to do what we are doing. So, I can’t take credit for those projects.
“The office of the SSG is better than my own office. And there is nothing wrong with that because at the time they built my own office, Tinubu was not there. We didn’t have the resources that we have today. So, there is nothing wrong with me doing it better today because we are receiving the resources better today.
“I came from the private sector, so for every contract, I give the amount that we are spending on that contract so that people can make a difference with the kind of money we are receiving. I can tell you for free.
“You are right when you say that president Tinubu took the bullet on our behalf. In my first four years, everybody knows the federal government was sharing between maybe N590 billion to about N620 billion a month as the total FAAC allocation.
“For Nasarawa state, what we were getting was between maybe N3.8 billion and about N4.5 billion for the state. For the local government, it was between N1.9 billion and N2.5 billion every month.
“With the removal of the fuel subsidy, I can tell you for free that Nasarawa state today is receiving an average of N14 to N16 billion a month. But you have to go back and find out [about] our expenses. That is why Onanuga said president Tinubu took the bullet on our behalf.
“That is why they accused me of being very straightforward in criticising anything not right, arguing that I am no longer a straightforward person now that I am commending the government. So, anytime I tell the truth about the good thing happening, I am no longer a good person.”
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, also said state governments and other sub-national entities were benefiting from the removal of the petrol subsidy, citing major projects being executed across the country as evidence.
