Muhammadu Yahaya, Gombe State Governor, has approved the spending of N15 billion to construct an ultra-modern governor’s residence.

The state’s executive council met on Tuesday, and Yahaya approved the building of this residence and other projects with a budget of N43.13 billion. These other projects include roads, House of Assembly and state high court complexes.

When Tilde Mijiyanwa, the state information commissioner, communicated the decision of this meeting to the press, it drew public backlash.

Economic and political analysts agree Nigeria needs to cut its cost of governance, and the backlash that followed Yahaya’s decision mirrored the one Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister, and Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, faced when they proposed similar exercises in Abuja and Lagos, respectively.

Wike already set the ball rolling on his N15 billion vice president’s residence in Abuja, while Gbajabiamila secured N10 billion to renovate the Presidential Quarters in Dodan Barracks and the Vice President’s Lodge in Lagos. Both men enjoyed the backing of the federal government’s N28 trillion 2024 budget.

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The Gombe government has a N208 billion budget for 2024, and finances for this budget would come from federal allocation, internally generated revenue, loans and grants. FIJ reviewed the state’s finances to understand its N15 billion governor’s residence venture.

LEAST FEDERAL ALLOCATION, 3RD LOWEST IGR

The Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) makes monthly disbursements to states and local governments to help assist their projects and aid development.

This complements the states’ IGR and makes up their budgets for the year. In 2023, Gombe State got N99.05 billion in federal allocation, making it the least allocation recipient among 36 states and the FCT.

Delta State, with N483.57 billion, got the highest allocation.

Similarly, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that between 2019 and 2022, Gombe State generated N39.63 billion as IGR. This figure is better than only Taraba (N34.51 billion) and Yobe (N34.23 billion). Taraba, however, enjoyed a N123.05 billion allocation in 2023, while Yobe bagged a N124.14 billion allocation in the same period, putting them at numbers 28 and 27, respectively, among states.

Gombe’s IGR and FAAC allocation total N138.68 billion, meaning Taraba (N157.56 billion) and Yobe (N158.37 billion) earn more than the state annually. From the most recently available data, Gombe has been the lowest-earning state in Nigeria.

The NBS also pegs Gombe’s multidimensional poverty data at 86.2 percent. Only Sokoto (90.5 percent) and Bayelsa (88.5 percent) have higher percentages of multidimensionally poor people.

Despite the financial decline, Yahaya wants to build a governor’s residence that matches the vice president’s.