Opinion

Re: “Kano Spends #26.5BN On Govt House,Governors Office, Travels In Six Months

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"JT5KU0qa" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"6APX55bf" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Setting the Records Straight from the Published Budget Performance Report<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By Hon&period; Muhammad Sanusi S&period; Kiru&comma; FCIA<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As a citizen of Kano State with an abiding interest in good governance&comma; transparency and responsible public discourse&comma; I consider it necessary to independently examine the figures currently circulating under the headline&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Kano Spends ₦26&period;5bn on Govt House&comma; Governor’s Office&comma; Travels in Six Months&period;”<&sol;p><div class&equals;"hbgqxYCc" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>Public expenditure must be subjected to scrutiny&period; The media has an indispensable responsibility to hold governments and public institutions accountable&period; However&comma; such scrutiny achieves its purpose only when figures extracted from official financial documents are presented within their correct accounting and administrative context&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I have therefore examined the Kano State Second Quarter 2026 Budget Performance Report&comma; the publicly available document from which the figures in the report appear to have been derived&period; My review reveals a number of important facts which members of the public deserve to know&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>I&period; THE ₦25&period;869 BILLION IS NOT THE GOVERNOR&&num;8217&semi;S PERSONAL EXPENDITURE<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The official Budget Performance Report indeed contains an expenditure figure of approximately ₦25&period;869 billion under the broader Government House administrative classification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; this classification is not synonymous with the personal expenditure of the Governor&comma; nor does the amount represent expenditure exclusively incurred by the Governor&&num;8217&semi;s immediate office&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Rather&comma; it is an umbrella administrative classification encompassing several offices&comma; directorates&comma; agencies and governmental functions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It would therefore be misleading to interpret or present the entire ₦25&period;869 billion as money spent personally by the Governor or exclusively by his immediate office&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>II&period; GOVERNMENT HOUSE PROPER RECORDED APPROXIMATELY ₦3&period;288 BILLION<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A closer examination of the same official document shows that Government House proper&comma; under administrative code 011100100100&comma; recorded cumulative expenditure of approximately ₦3&period;288 billion as at June 2026&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This was against an approved annual provision of approximately ₦39&period;514 billion&comma; meaning that only about 8&period;3 per cent of the annual provision had been utilised at the end of the first six months&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This distinction is fundamental&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The difference between the ₦3&period;288 billion expenditure attributable to Government House proper and the ₦25&period;869 billion aggregate expenditure under the wider administrative classification should not be overlooked in any objective analysis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>III&period; THE ₦25&period;869 BILLION COVERS SEVERAL ESTABLISHMENTS<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The broader ₦25&period;869 billion figure incorporates expenditure attributable to several establishments and governmental functions administratively grouped under Government House&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>These include&comma; among others&comma; the Deputy Governor&&num;8217&semi;s Office&comma; Protocol Directorate&comma; Media and Publicity establishments and other offices and agencies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For example&comma; the official report indicates that approximately ₦4&period;471 billion recorded under the Deputy Governor&&num;8217&semi;s Office was capital expenditure&period; The Protocol Directorate also accounts for a substantial component of expenditure contained within the broader administrative classification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These are distinct governmental expenditures and should not be portrayed as the Governor&&num;8217&semi;s personal expenditure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>IV&period; THE ₦626&period;95 MILLION DESCRIBED AS &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;TRAVEL”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The additional figure of approximately ₦626&comma;947&comma;782&period;13 deserves particular attention&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The amount does appear in the official Q2 2026 Budget Performance Report&period; However&comma; examination of the underlying document shows that the figure appears under the Primary Healthcare expenditure reporting section&comma; specifically against Local Travel and Transport&colon; Training&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This raises a legitimate question as to the basis for adding the ₦626&period;95 million to the broader Government House administrative expenditure to arrive at the headline figure of approximately ₦26&period;5 billion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If the expenditure is classified in the official document under Primary Healthcare and relates to local travel and transport for training&comma; it should not be presented in a manner capable of creating the impression that the amount represents the Governor&&num;8217&semi;s travel expenditure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>V&period; THE COMPARABLE EXPENDITURE ACTUALLY DECLINED<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There is another important fact which deserves equal prominence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The broader Government House administrative expenditure reportedly stood at approximately ₦28&period;84 billion during the first six months of 2025&comma; compared with approximately ₦25&period;87 billion during the corresponding period of 2026&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This represents a reduction of approximately ₦2&period;97 billion&comma; or about 10&period;3 per cent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The year-on-year comparison therefore indicates a decline rather than an escalation in expenditure under the broader administrative classification&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>MY FINDING<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Having examined the underlying figures&comma; my considered view is that the headline &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Kano Spends ₦26&period;5 Billion on Govt House&comma; Governor&&num;8217&semi;s Office&comma; Travels in Six Months” requires substantial clarification and context&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The ₦25&period;869 billion figure is contained in the official Budget Performance Report&comma; but it represents expenditure under a broader administrative classification encompassing several offices&comma; agencies&comma; directorates and governmental functions&period; Government House proper recorded approximately ₦3&period;288 billion&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Similarly&comma; the additional ₦626&period;95 million presented as travel expenditure appears in the official document under a Primary Healthcare expenditure section relating to Local Travel and Transport&colon; Training&period; It should therefore not&comma; without further evidence&comma; be interpreted as the Governor&&num;8217&semi;s travel expenditure&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Furthermore&comma; the comparable broader administrative expenditure declined from approximately ₦28&period;84 billion in the first half of 2025 to ₦25&period;87 billion in the first half of 2026&comma; representing a reduction of about 10&period;3 per cent&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Accountability is not served by shielding government from scrutiny&period; Neither is it served by presenting legitimate public expenditure figures without their necessary administrative and accounting context&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As citizens&comma; we must continue to demand prudence&comma; transparency and accountability from those entrusted with public resources&period; In the same spirit&comma; public discourse—particularly on matters involving billions of naira of taxpayers&&num;8217&semi; money—must be anchored on accuracy&comma; context and fairness&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The records are public&period; The figures can be verified&period; Let the facts speak for themselves&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Hon&period; Muhammad Sanusi S&period; Kiru&comma; FCIA<br &sol;>&NewLine;Concerned Kano Citizen<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;5 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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