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Gumi: Nigeria’s Untouchable Sheikh [OPINION]

Published

2 years ago

October 24, 2023

By Suyi Ayodele

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi called Mr. Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, “satanic”, last week. He could be right. Gumi is a Sheikh, and all Sheikhs are spiritual people. Some of them see the heart of God; at least they make us think so! He did not stop at that. He went ahead to ask Wike’s appointing authority, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to remove the former Rivers State governor as the Minister in charge of the FCT. He also did not stop at that. Gumi spoke like someone with authority. He does not issue ultimatums without spelling out the consequences. He warned President Tinubu that if he failed to remove Wike, he, Tinubu, could as well kiss his second term goodbye. In addition, President Tinubu would also have the North’s Muslim community to contend with.

He used epic but unmistakable language to warn the president and Commander-in-Chief. Hear him: “Tinubu should know that we know their plan, he must choose. He should remove the Minister of Abuja; if not, we will collide with him. On the day of a bath, the navel is not hidden.” We should note here that Tinubu has not done six months in his first term of four years. He has not even fully survived the various legal wars the perennial presidential candidate, Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is wagging against him. But Gumi is already issuing a threat of second term denial. Gumi talks as if he and his northern promoters will be the ones to decide Tinubu’s fate come 2027.

Curiously, all Tinubu’s boys are silent over the matter. Not a single word has been uttered to counter Gumi or abuse him for daring the president. If someone else had issued that threat, I know the number of direct and third-party advocacy attacks that would have come his way. Is Tinubu afraid of Gumi and his second term threat? Or is it just a case of you don’t throw stones at every dog that barks at you on the street? The beautiful thing about it all is that Gumi is not God. Only God knows tomorrow! How are we sure Gumi will still be around to determine whether President Tinubu gets a second term? Someone owns Gumi’s life, and He alone can determine when to recall it. We are all IOUs in the hands of our Creator. He recalls our bills anytime He wants it! Gumi, as an Islamic scholar, should know that! The thrust of this piece, however, is not about Gumi and his threat of second term denial. It is about what he said about Wike and the Nigerian State.

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Gumi was angry, and I still think he is still angry with Wike. He was so angry that he had no other name to give to the equally loquacious minister than to baptise him “satanic”. Wike’s offence must have been very grave in the estimation of the untouchable Islamic scholar. Nigeria, we are told, is a secular state. This means that as a nation, the country does not have any state religion. That is purely on paper. As far as the Gumis of this world are concerned, Nigeria belongs to one religion: Islam. Many don’t like this line of argument. The government and those in authority who should know better and speak when occasions demand are also not helping matters. That is why someone like Gumi finds it repulsive that the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Michael Freeman, could visit Wike in his office and Wike in turn would have the effrontery to play host to the ambassador.

The main grouse of Gumi, and possibly those behind him, is the fact that Wike allowed the Israeli ambassador access to the inner recess of the FCT at a time Israel is fighting an avoidable war with Palestine. Irrespective of what provoked the Israel-Palestine war, Gumi finds it difficult to believe that the ambassador of a nation which is purportedly killing his Muslim brothers in Gaza would come to visit a Nigerian minister. It doesn’t, and it would never matter to him, the fact that Nigeria maintains a solid bilateral diplomatic relation with Israel. The mere fact that Israel is fighting Palestine, is enough reason why no government official should have anything to do with Israel and all its interests. He could also not understand why Wike should consider the idea of seeking Israeli government assistance on security matters in the FCT. Such cooperation, Gumi says, is simply to do one thing, to wit: “Abuja will now become an extension of Tel Aviv and when they see anyone with a beard like us, they will say it is Bin Laden and we will be killed.” That is his interpretation of any security collaboration between the FCT and Israel, if it comes to fruition.

To get the ears of his target audience, Gumi used the beard as a symbol. The Islamic scholar, however, failed to tell us if everyone with a beard is an agent of terror that Osama Bin Laden represented. I have seen fantastic, God-fearing bearded men. I have watched videos of bearded Sheiks like Gumi, who preached peace and harmonious relationships. So, what exactly is Gumi afraid of in a secured FCT, or any part of Nigeria? Are all bearded men evil, or all clean-shaven men angels? The answer is in the content of our characters. The elders in my place say that only children with sanguinary tendencies look for knife-repellant charm (iwa omo ni mu omo je okigbe). The womenfolk tell us that when you don’t spread any millet outside, you should not be afraid of the rain. “Conscience”, the legend, Uthman Dan Fodio, says “is an open wound; only truth can heal it.” What Gumi said in that his homily last week was, and remains, an open call for war! Threatening that President Tinubu’s failure to remove Wike would set the president on “collision” course with him and Muslims in the country is akin to calling for war. It is an infraction that should not be left unpunished.

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But who will do that? Who has the testicular fortitude to ask the almighty Sheikh Gumi to come and account for his unguarded utterances? Nigeria is too fragile. Gumi knows this. That was why he drew the line between the two most prominent religions in the country. He also knew that the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket of President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shetima, would continue to haunt the nation. He said: “Where are those that worked for the Muslim-Muslim ticket? Hypocrites and worthless people. Abuja is becoming an extension of Tel Aviv and security is the bastion of the people. Have you not heard the silence? They know what they are doing…” This is a call to arms. Unfortunately, the State is loudly silent! Godwin Emefiele was accused of ‘financing terrorism’, and he has been in government custody for months now. Gumi openly called for arms against the State, he is walking around a free man. We are told that one partridge is not taller than the other, except the one which climbs the heap. Gumi’s partridge is taller than the rest not because it is on a heap; but because it is on the rooftop where it remains untouchable.

There are people that are born with some levels of privilege. There is nothing wrong in being born a privileged child. But there is everything wrong when one abuses such privilege. There are many privileged Nigerians. You may change that to read: there are many over-indulged Nigerians. Those who are simply untouchable, the very privileged children of the chief priest. Every infraction they commit is without rebuke. By virtue of birth and the configuration of my lineage, I belong to the class of people known as Omo abé Àlà (children born into the inner recess of the shrine). Why? My forebears were chief priests of our family deity, Orangun. To underscore the privileged position my lineage occupies, we are saluted this way: “Omo Ààrò mésè domi akòko nù, àgbà hìhòrò mú sèrìnrín; kó somo olòmúrín, hàn wí ké so ugba uhun” (when the son of the chief priest overturns the water meant for the deity, the lesser priests laugh over it; if a child of the uninitiated does that, he pays fines in two hundred folds). Omi akòko is sacred water for the deity. The biggest sacrilege anyone can commit is to overturn the water. The penalty is grave. But if any member of my lineage does that, nothing happens. Privileged children, we are! However, despite that we have the knowledge that we are without rebuke in spiritual matters, there is no history (past or present) to show that anyone from my lineage has ever committed the sacrilege of overturning the water meant for the deity. The family discipline as espoused in the saying: Omo abé Àlà hísìwà hí hù (children born into the inner recess of the shrine don’t misbehave) ensures that.

Gumi is no doubt one of the few privileged Nigerians we have around us. He says and does whatever he likes without consequences, like a typical son of a chief priest. He can even threaten our existence as a nation, and nothing will happen to him. The State is afraid of him. If not so, going by what Gumi said about Wike and the Nigerian State last week, one would have expected the State to rein him in. He had talked and acted the same way on several occasions in the past. At a time when banditry was more common than the air we breathe and the bandits remained invincible, only Gumi knew where they were. Only he could go to the deep forest of the wicked (Igbó òdájú) without any consequences. Only Gumi could tell the government how to handle the compulsive killers of the north and the government obeyed! He negotiated with bandits on behalf of the Nigerian State, and we were asked to show appreciation to him.

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Nobody remembered the saying that it takes a thief to be able to trace the footprints of another thief on the rock. Nobody questioned how he became so familiar with the felons and became their go-between. When you occupy an uncommon, privileged position, there is nothing you cannot do. Discretion only teaches one to be circumspect. He also told the nation in the same sermon that he might not be available for the intermediary role anymore. One of the groups he commands, he added, had asked him not to. “One Miyetti Allah leader came and told me that if they come to me with a proposal of negotiation with bandits, I should not be part of it, that I should leave it alone.” I pity the states that will come under the attack of bandits soonest because Nigeria’s negotiator-in-chief has closed shop, temporarily, though! Nobody is speaking to that loaded message. Indeed, Nigeria is still a huge joke.

That Nigeria is divided sharply along two contrasting stratifications; geographically, socially, and religiously, is not contestable. Geographically, we have the north and the south. In social terms we have the extremely rich and the extremely poor. In religion, we have the Muslim and the Christians. Don’t ask me here about the traditionalists. Those ones are forbidden to confess their faith openly. If you are in doubt, go and ask why the Osun worshippers were not allowed to do their things in Kwara State. And nobody should draw my attention to the recent Ìsèse Day declared in some states in the South-West. That is pure hypocrisy! Still in doubt? Tell me, how many of the governors were seen at any shrine showing solidarity with the traditionalists the way you find in the churches and mosques? Gumi speaks the minds of the north, and to a greater extent, those of the Muslim community. There is nothing wrong with that, if done in a more civilised way. However, Gumi is already carrying his sadakat (almsgiving) beyond the mosque. It is wrong for a section of the country to feel that without it, the rest cannot progress. The 2027 general election is some three years and seven months away. How on earth will Gumi be issuing threats about what will happen in almost four years’ time? And should it come to that, does Gumi know that if we find it difficult to open a calabash, we can as well break it?

News

OPINION: Peter Obi And The Genius Of Yahoo Yahoo

Published

2 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

By Suyi Ayodele

Some Nigerians said it was wrong for Mr. Peter Obi to have labelled Yahoo Boys geniuses. I heard them and wondered whether ‘genius’ now has a new meaning apart from what the dictionary says it is.

The Shorter Oxford Dictionary (2007), on page 1091, defines genius as: “Natural ability or tendency, attributes which fit a person or particular activity. Natural aptitude, talent, or inclination for, to (something).”

Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, in the post titled: “Our Youths Need Redirection”, that he shared on his verified X handle, after a conference he addressed in Onitsha, Anambra State, said that “some of our so-called Yahoo boys are geniuses who need redirection, not condemnation.”

He did not stop there. He posited further by saying that the “creativity and courage” of the Yahoo Boys, “if properly guided, can drive innovation and national development. Our challenge is to channel their energy from deception to productive enterprise. I also stressed that the reckless pursuit of money destroys both character and community. Leadership must lead by example, for a nation that rewards dishonesty cannot build integrity. I urged our youths to rediscover the dignity of labour and embrace hard work and innovation. Nations are built not by miracles but by men and women who think, work, and build.”

Pray, what do the Yahoo Boys display if not aptitude? How do they succeed in fleecing people of their hard-earned money if not that the Yahoo Boys are naturally gifted and their victims stupid or greedy, or a combination of both? How does a 17-year-old boy convince a 60-year-old man to part with his money on the promise that the old man would be given an oil block? Who swindles like that if not a genius? And we have these geniuses in our homes as children, wards and relations. The attention we pay to them matters.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch at an old friend’s house at Ido Ekiti. His wife, also a friend, was generous with the pounded yam she served. We were almost through when their 15-year-old daughter came in with two of her friends.

The girls greeted us and made for their section of the house when my friend called his daughter back. He complained that he was having an issue with his android phone and asked her to check it. The girl asked what the issue was, and the father explained. What followed almost ruined our lunch.

Taking the phone from the father, the young girl said: “But I taught you how to fix this problem before, Daddy. I know you will soon call me again because of this.” It was not what she said that was the problem. The what-else-do-you-think-that-makes-you-to-forget manner she said it, was the issue. If an adult were to say those words, he would have simply called my friend an alakogbagbe (teach-and-forget soul)!

The girl simply punched some buttons and returned the phone to the father. “I have done it”, she said, giggling. The father, surprised, asked how, since he had locked his phone. The girl, laughing, simply said: “I know your password, even mummy’s and Uncle Tunji’s password.” She dropped the phone and dashed inside to join her friends.

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We simply exchanged glances and continued with our lunch. But I could feel the tension. My friend’s wife was particularly embarrassed, but I felt nothing. Only God understands the ways of this generation.

While seeing me off, I decided to douse the tension, or minimise the reprimand I knew would follow once I departed. I quipped: “That’s a brilliant girl.” My friend responded: “Yes, but she can be rude. I have told her to watch how she talks.” I stopped and asked if the girl was rude or simply wondered why an adult should forget things easily. The wife joined the husband and affirmed that the girl was rude.

Then I said to the two of them: “I think I know what you people should do. Stop paying her school fees.” “Ha!” They both exclaimed, and I added: “Yes nao, sebi you said she is rude.” We all laughed at the joke, and I left.

My friend’s daughter will be 16 years old in June next year. But I was told that there is nothing she can’t design using computer applications! We have children like her in our homes; restless, brilliant, naturally impatient with perceived docility and outspoken to the point of seeming ‘rude’! What we do with them makes all the difference.

Teckworm, an online technology news and media company, on September 19, 2018, published an article: “Meet these 5 child hackers who could become top cyber security researchers.” The article, written by Maya Kamath, demonstrates how the society could guide negative prodigies into becoming useful members of the society especially in the field of Cybersecurity that is experiencing a shortfall of skilled professionals.

The first of the youngsters is Reuben Paul, a nine-year-old boy, and a third grader in Harmony School of Science, Austin, Texas, USA, who at a .B-Sides security conference, demonstrated how in a matter of minutes, hackers can easily steal all the important data from any Android smartphone including contact details, call logs and messages. The kid warned: “If a child can do it then a regular hacker can do it … so I just want everybody to be aware [and to] be more careful when you download games and stuff like that.” He went ahead to establish the Prudent Games and became the CEO at age nine!

Another kid is Betsy Davies, a seven-year-old British girl, who was able to hack the public Wi-Fi network following a short video tutorial. After 10 minutes, the article says: “Surprisingly, Betsy was able to hack the open Wi-Fi and steal the traffic of the volunteer in just 10 minutes and 54 seconds. Betsy managed this by setting up a Rogue Access Point which is normally used by hackers to carry out the “Man in the Middle” (MiTM) attack on the overly trusting web surfers to sniff web traffic.

The piece further mentions Kristoffer Von Hassel, a five-year-old kid hacker, the piece further states, “exposed the Xbox password flaw for which he has been officially added to the list of Microsoft’s recognized security researchers. We can expect a five-year-old kid to play the Microsoft Xbox Game as well as know the operating system. However, just imagine if a five-year-old kid starts finding a security vulnerability in the system. It just seems impossible; however, little Kristoffer Von Hassel discovered a back door into one of the most popular gaming systems and that is the Xbox Game.”

Another wonder kid identified only as “An Unnamed Canadian”, said to be 12 years old and a fifth grader, “launched a series of Denial-of-Service (DoS), spoofing and even defacement attacks against the Canadian government websites in support of the Quebec student protests. It seems the young protester even passed the data which was stolen from the government websites to the Anonymous group in exchange for video games. The young hacker was from Montreal and also pleaded guilty for being responsible for the shut down of a number of government sites including the Quebec Institute of Public Health and the Chilean government.”

The last of the quintet is a 10-year-old security researcher, who goes by the pseudonym ‘CyFi. According to the article, “The young Californian school girl first discovered the flaw when “she started to get bored” with the pace of farm style games. The first DefCon Kids at DefCon 19 was held in August 2011, where CyFi presented her findings on the zero-day flaw in the games on the iOS and Android devices which was confirmed to be of a new class of vulnerability by experts. While speaking to CNET, CyFi said: “It was hard to make progress in the game, because it took so long for things to grow. So, I thought, ‘Why don’t I just change the time?’”

CyFi’s, whose “real identity is being protected… was already a Girl Scout and a state ranked downhill skier. In addition, the little girl was already an artist who gave a spontaneous 10-minute speech in front of a thousand people at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.”

The Nigerian society also has more than enough shares of those young and brilliant children. What we do with them as a people is what makes the difference. While more developed societies harness the potential of such youngsters and turn them into useful members of the community, often brand and blacklist them here, calling them derogatory names instead of seeking ways to change their orientation.

In our cities and towns, we see them everyday. Young boys in their teens and early twenties driving flashy cars. A friend, who teaches in one of the state-owned universities, once told me how young boys in his school created a massive car park for themselves. He said that the situation became embarrassing such that the university authorities had to ban students from driving their cars within the campus. When I asked if that measure had stopped other students from buying their own cars, my friend answered in the negative. So, what is the effect of the ban?

Who are these super-rich kids behind the wheels of exotic cars that we see in our neighbourhoods? How did they get the money? What do they do for a living? On February 8, 2022, I published a piece titled: “The Yahoo in us all: Whose conscience have we not scammed.” In that piece, I submitted that “The issue of Yahoo Boys, Yahoo Plus and HK, are not social problems that just hit us all suddenly. No. The Nigerian society gradually moved into this present level of moral decadence, which has reached a bestial level, where sucklings now kill to make money.”

Regrettably, nothing in the submissions above has changed today! Rather, we have moved from a bad situation to an even worse one, and the worst may still be ahead. The moral decadence in our society today has become so pervasive that no segment of the society is spared. Ironically, the leaders we should look up to for direction are also complicit.

A community led certificate forgers, drug barons, ex-convicts, corrupt politicians and adults without childhood playmates cannot question the moral decadence of the youths! The Yahoo Boys of our society today are products of failed parentage. While the influence of peer groups bears some responsibility, the erosion of family values carries the greatest share of the blame.

More importantly, society’s response to the activities of these Yahoo Boys and girls will, no doubt, go a long way in transforming some of them into good citizens. This, I believe, is what Peter Obi meant when he said that “some of our so-called Yahoo boys are geniuses who need redirection, not condemnation.”

What Obi is saying is: Check these guys out, study them, understand their modus operandi and see how they can be re-oriented to channel those talents to positive ideas that will make them good and acceptable members of the society. That is exactly what a sane society does. The five kids mentioned by the Techworm are clear examples of how a negative path can be redirected.

When, for instance, Kristoffer’s parents discovered that their child could play games above his age on the Xbox Games platform, they reported their finding to Microsoft. The company investigated, discovered the flaws in the system that allowed a five-year-old to access those games and went ahead to fix the problem.

Then, Microsoft rewarded Kristoffer with $50, four games and a year subscription to Xbox Live from Microsoft! It went ahead to include “Kristoffer’s name in the list of recognised security researchers and Kristoffer now has his own Wikipedia page.” This, to me, is Obi’s message to the Nigerian society on the menace of Yahoo Boys.

This, again, I think Seye Oladejo, the Lagos State spokesman for the All Progressives Congress (APC), should see rather than his labelling Obi’s statement as “morally reprehensible”, and capable of encouraging “moral indiscipline.”

I read Oladejo’s reaction, and I wondered if he ever shared the piece with his superiors before he made it public. I don’t know how APC finds it convenient to talk about leadership that is rooted in “values, integrity, and moral responsibility”, when from top to bottom, the party flows with characters that are as despicable as the sight of maggots-infested faeces!

I would have been more at home with anyone asking Obi to always show the alternative routes anytime he comments on any public affair than anyone in the APC interrogating another man’s “moral compass”, as Oladejo did in his reaction. I begin to wonder if our politicians don’t look into the mirror to see the gory picture they depict before they go to the moral markets and spew sanctimony!

News

Customs Warn Nigerians Against Falling For Fake WhatsApp Auction Scams

Published

5 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

The Nigeria Customs Service has warned members of the public against falling victim to fraudulent WhatsApp messages advertising fake e-auction deals and “quick purchase” opportunities purportedly linked to the service.

In a statement posted on its official X handle on Tuesday, the service said it had become aware of a WhatsApp number,”234 814 732 3739”, impersonating its officers and misleading unsuspecting citizens with false claims of representing the Nigeria Customs Service.

“Please be informed that this number does NOT belong to the National Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service.

“The messages and posts circulating from this number are FAKE and fraudulent,” the statement partly read.

It added that the National Public Relations Officer, Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada, has only one verified Facebook account, Abdullahi Aliyu Maiwada (with a blue tick), and one official WhatsApp contact, which is not the number used by the scammers.

The service clarified that “there is no ongoing auction via WhatsApp, and no individual officer is authorised to conduct e-auction on behalf of the Service through private messages.”

Urging the public to remain cautious, the statement advised Nigerians to “ignore and block such numbers,” and “not send money or personal information to anyone claiming to represent the NCS through WhatsApp or private messages.”

It further urged citizens to “report such accounts to the appropriate authorities immediately.”

For verified updates, the service encouraged members of the public to follow its official channels: Facebook (Nigeria Customs Service), Instagram (@customsng), X (@CustomsNG), YouTube (@customsng), and its official website — https://customs.gov.ng.

The service concluded, “Please stay alert, verify before you trust, and share this message widely to protect others from falling victim to these scams.”

According to The PUNCH, rampant fraudsters now clone the Nigeria Customs Service website and other official-looking platforms to swindle unsuspecting buyers.

In another report, a 59-year-old woman, Rakiyat Musa, was arraigned before the Igbosere Magistrate’s Court sitting at Tinubu, Lagos Island, for allegedly impersonating a Nigerian Customs officer and obtaining over N34, 116,000, under pretence.

Musa, who appeared before Magistrate B. I. Amos, faced a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, stealing, impersonation, and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.

News

Anambra, Lagos, Others Top 2025 Fiscal Performance Rankings, As C’Rivers Dropped from 5th to 30th

Published

5 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

Anambra State has emerged as the best-performing state in Nigeria’s 2025 Fiscal Performance Ranking, according to BudgIT’s State of States Report, released on Tuesday.

Lagos, Kwara, Abia, and Edo followed in the top five, while Cross River suffered a major decline, dropping from fifth in 2024 to 30th in 2025.

Rivers State, a consistent top-five performer in previous years, was excluded from this year’s report due to the state of emergency declared earlier in the year, which prevented the release of audited data.

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, BudgIT described this year’s edition—titled “A Decade of Subnational Fiscal Analysis: Growth, Decline and Middling Performance”—as a milestone marking 10 years of tracking fiscal sustainability and governance transparency across Nigeria’s 36 states.

BudgIT highlighted the key movements in the 2025 rankings.

“Anambra State rose from second to first position, securing the title of the best-performing state in the federation, while Lagos maintained its second place for the second consecutive year.

“Kwara climbed from fourth to third, Edo entered the top five after consistently ranking within the top ten over the last four editions, and Abia, which had never previously featured in the top 10, now ranks fourth,” the organisation said.

Other notable movements include Akwa Ibom, which surged 17 places from 27th to 10th, and Zamfara, which moved up nine places from 26th to 17th.

At the lower end of the rankings, Imo, Kogi, Jigawa, Benue, and Yobe occupy the bottom positions.

The report retained five key metrics to rank all 35 states: Index A – a state’s ability to meet operating expenses using only Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); Index A1 – year-on-year IGR growth; Index B – capacity to cover all expenses and loan obligations using total revenue without borrowing; Index C – debt sustainability based on foreign debt as % of total debt, total debt as % of revenue, debt service as % of revenue, and personnel cost as % of revenue; and Index D – prioritisation of capital expenditure over recurrent spending.

On revenue performance, BudgIT noted major shifts in IGR.

“While Rivers (121.26%) and Lagos (118.39%) were the only two states with sufficient IGR to cover their operating expenses in 2024, the absence of Rivers from this year’s analysis has reshaped this dynamic.

“Lagos remains a returning champion with 120.87%, while Enugu now leads with an impressive 146.68% IGR-to-operating expense ratio,” the report said.

Only five states—Abia, Anambra, Kwara, Ogun, and Edo—generated enough IGR to cover at least 50% of their operating expenses, compared with six in 2024. Fourteen states now require more than five times their IGR to cover costs, up from six in 2024, underscoring persistent challenges.

In capital expenditure, Abia led with 77.05% of its total expenditure devoted to capital projects, followed by Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Taraba, each allocating over 70%.

Overall, 24 states spent at least half of their budgets on capital projects, while Bauchi, Ekiti, Delta, Benue, Oyo, and Ogun devoted more than 60% to personnel and overhead costs.

Total recurrent revenue for all 35 states grew from N6.6 trillion in 2022 to N8.66 trillion in 2023 and N14.4 trillion in 2024—a 66.28% increase, far surpassing the 28.95% rise between 2022 and 2023.

Lagos accounted for 13.42% (N1.93 trillion) of total revenue in 2024. Gross FAAC transfers increased by 110.74%, reaching N11.38 trillion, with states like Oyo (785.79%), Delta (708.36%), and Anambra (640.98%) recording over 600% growth between 2015 and 2024. Despite these gains, 28 states relied on FAAC for at least 55% of total revenue.

Subnational debt also saw a change. Total debt rose modestly from N9.89 trillion in 2023 to N10.57 trillion in 2024, a 6.8% increase. The top five debtor states—Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, Ogun, and Bauchi—accounted for 50.32% of total debt.

Encouragingly, 31 states reduced domestic debt by at least N10 billion, while foreign debt fell by over $200 million.

On long-term trends, BudgIT said, “Over the past decade, the State of States has evolved into Nigeria’s most authoritative subnational fiscal analysis. This 10th edition not only reflects the story of growth and imbalance but also underscores the urgent need for reform.”

“Fiscal sustainability requires that states look inward, improving revenue systems, cutting waste, and prioritising infrastructure and human development investments that deliver long-term value,” said Vahyala Kwaga, Group Head of Research.

The report also highlighted uneven social spending. In education, only 66.9% of the budgeted N2.41 trillion was spent. Nine states—Edo, Delta, Katsina, Rivers, Yobe, Ekiti, Bayelsa, Bauchi, and Osun—exceeded 80% of their budgeted allocations, with Edo, Delta, and Katsina surpassing 100%. Average per capita spending remained low at N6,981, with no state exceeding N20,000 per capita and only eight states above N10,000.

In health, the states budgeted N1.32 trillion but expended N816.64 billion, achieving 61.9% implementation. Seven states—Yobe, Gombe, Ekiti, Lagos, Edo, Delta, and Bauchi—spent over 80% of their health budgets, with Yobe leading at 98.2%. Average per capita spending was N3,483, with only a few states exceeding N5,000, highlighting gaps in service delivery relative to education.