President Bola Tinubu’s challenge to governors to deploy rising revenues to projects that directly affect ordinary Nigerians is timely. However, the federal government must demonstrate the same discipline by prioritising existing roads, electricity, security and other essential infrastructure, writes Festus Akanbi
P
resident Bola Tinubu’s admonition to state governors to channel their rising revenues into projects that directly improve citizens’ living conditions deserves serious attention. At a time of widespread hardship, public expenditure should be determined by necessity, economic value and social impact rather than political prestige.
Receiving a delegation of Oyo State traditional rulers at the Presidential Villa recently, Tinubu argued that governors had no justification for poor performance because their allocations had increased considerably. He advised them to build functional road networks that would stimulate economic activity and enable security agencies to reach vulnerable communities, rather than constructing flyovers where traffic volumes did not warrant them.
The president’s argument is difficult to fault. Across Nigeria, flyovers, elaborate government houses, ornamental city gates and other grand structures have become convenient political trophies. Their visibility makes them attractive to governors seeking monuments that can be advertised as evidence of performance. Yet such projects frequently coexist with dilapidated schools, understaffed hospitals, impassable rural roads and communities without potable water.
With Federation Account allocations reaching unprecedented levels, state governments must reconsider their priorities. In August 2026, the Federation Account Allocation Committee approved the distribution of N3.007 trillion among the federal, state and local governments from revenue collected in July. This followed the N2.551 trillion shared from June revenue. Gross statutory revenue increased from about N3.701 trillion in June to N4.359 trillion in July.
Tinubu is therefore justified in demanding more of governors. Higher allocations should produce corresponding improvements in public services. Payment of salaries and pensions is a basic obligation of government, not an exceptional achievement.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) reinforces this position. Its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, recently observed that economic reforms had strengthened government revenue, external reserves, foreign exchange stability and investor confidence. Nevertheless, he warned that macroeconomic stability was a means rather than an end, stressing that its true test was whether it produced stronger investment, more jobs, lower poverty and improved living standards.
According to the CPPE, the reforms have substantially expanded the fiscal space available to state governments through higher statutory allocations and stronger internally generated revenue. It consequently urged citizens to demand measurable outcomes in roads, healthcare, public transportation, education, agricultural infrastructure, security, electricity and enterprise support. Higher revenues, it warned, should not merely finance recurrent expenditure and prestige projects but must produce visible development and welfare dividends.
However, the same standard should apply to the federal government. The president’s message will carry greater moral authority if it is faithfully replicated in Abuja. The federal government cannot instruct governors to abandon vanity projects while committing enormous resources to ambitious schemes whose immediate benefits to ordinary Nigerians remain uncertain.
Nigeria’s infrastructure crisis cuts across federal and state jurisdictions. Many of the country’s most important highways are owned by the federal government. They connect states, agricultural zones, industrial centres, seaports and national borders. Their deterioration increases transportation costs, damages vehicles, causes fatal accidents and creates favourable conditions for kidnapping and armed robbery.
For an ordinary Nigerian travelling on a broken highway, constitutional arguments about whether it belongs to the federal or state government offer little comfort. A farmer whose produce perishes because trucks cannot reach the market is uninterested in the administrative division of responsibility. Similarly, a transporter who incurs significant repair costs for vehicles damaged by potholes passes the additional cost on to passengers and consumers.
The federal government is pursuing costly legacy projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway. These roads could open new economic corridors and stimulate investment when completed. Nevertheless, their long-term promise must not overshadow the urgent rehabilitation of existing highways on which Nigerians and businesses depend today.
The principle Tinubu recommended to governors should, therefore, guide federal expenditure: prioritise projects that affect the greatest number of people before committing excessive resources to politically attractive monuments. Restoring existing highways may provide more immediate economic relief than concentrating resources on prestigious corridors whose completion could take several years.
The CPPE similarly identified electricity supply, transport infrastructure, logistics efficiency, port operations and security along farming and transportation corridors as urgent priorities. It argued that greater public investment in agriculture could reduce food inflation, while investment in mass transportation, railways and logistics would lower transportation costs. Improved spending on healthcare, education, water supply and rural infrastructure would also strengthen productivity and reduce the cost of living.
Electricity remains particularly critical.
Households endure unreliable supply despite higher tariffs, while manufacturers, traders and artisans spend heavily on alternative energy. These costs are passed to consumers through higher prices. If rising federal revenue does not improve electricity generation, transmission and distribution, its impact on ordinary Nigerians will remain limited.
Security is another federal responsibility requiring urgent attention. Better roads may enable security agencies to access remote communities, but roads alone cannot end insecurity. The federal government controls the principal security institutions and must provide the personnel, intelligence, equipment and coordination necessary to protect citizens.
The N68.32 trillion 2026 federal budget allocates N32.2 trillion to capital expenditure and N15.8 trillion to debt service. Such substantial capital provision should produce measurable changes in roads, electricity, healthcare, education and security. The crucial issue is not merely the amount budgeted but the quality and speed of implementation.
Tinubu is right to demand accountability from governors. But the demand must not become an attempt to transfer responsibility for national hardship. Abuja also receives enormous revenues, controls major infrastructure and determines policies that shape household welfare.
Before asking governors what they are doing with their increased allocations, the federal government must show how its own rising revenue is repairing highways, improving electricity service, securing communities, and reducing hardship. Leadership by example remains the strongest form of accountability.
Follow the story
