The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu has said the north has made more great economic progress under President Bola Tinubu than any government.
He made the statement in his presentation at the Sir Amadu Bello Memorial Foundation two-day interactive session on government-citizen engagement in Kaduna, yesterday.
The engagement, with the theme, “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government-Citizen Engagement for National Unity’’, commenced on Tuesday, and was attended by over 60 northern federal political appointees, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who led the delegation, ministers and heads of some ministries, departments and agencies; northern state governors, and thought leaders in the region, particularly the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
Bagudu stated that the president Tinubu’s bold economic reforms had increased revenue for states, even as their debts had fallen, freeing up more resources for social and infrastructural development.
He said this had greatly benefitted the 19 northern states, which federally allocated revenue had increased significantly since Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023.
The minister noted that Tinubu’s reforms led to significant revenue growth for state governments. He pointed out that between May 2023 and June 2025, total net statutory revenue and VAT allocation to states and local governments (excluding EMT levy, FX gains, and augmentations) more than doubled, rising from N458.81 billion to N991.81 billion.
According to him, this reflects an increase of N533 billion or 116.17% across the federation.
He attributed the significant increase in allocation to the federal government’s bold reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said though the reforms caused some short-term pains, the fiscal space created allowed for direct transfers of more oil revenues to the federation account, thereby increasing statutory allocations to state governments.
“By ending the fuel subsidy, President Tinubu made a hard but necessary call—liberating trillions of naira to expand federal allocations by over 340%. States now have the means to invest in their future,’’ he said.
Bagudu highlighted that while every state in the federation recorded significant increases in monthly allocations, northern states received a raise.
He cited Gombe State, which had the sharpest rise, from N6.69 billion in May 2023 to N24.91 billion in 2025, a whooping 272.35% increase.
He also referenced Kaduna State, which allocation increased from N11.94 billion to N42.01 billion, an increase of N30.07 billion, a 251.84% rise.
He stated that a regional breakdown of the benefits to the north showed that the north central’s share of revenue increased by 145%; the North East 149%; and the North West 143%.
“These show how removing subsidies and enhancing revenue-sharing mechanisms have directly benefited state governments, enabling them to fund their development priorities,’’ he said.
