The Kano State Government has dismissed recent claims by the Chief of Staff to the immediate past National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who also served as Commissioner for Information during the Ganduje administration, alleging weak sectoral performance in the 2025 third-quarter budget implementation report.
This clarification was issued by the Honourable Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Alhaji Musa Sulaiman Shanono, during a press briefing held on Wednesday at the Ministry. He stated that the interpretation of the budget review published by an online newspaper in Kano was misleading, selective, and taken out of context.
Shanono explained that the report, which suggested that sectors such as Water Resources, Health and Education recorded less than 40 percent capital performance from January to September 2025, failed to compare the figures with performance under the previous administration. He pointed out that a review of the 2022 third-quarter budget report—publicly available on the state’s budget portal—shows that the same sectors performed significantly worse under the previous government.
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He noted that in 2022, the Ministry of Health, despite having a capital allocation of ₦18.8 billion, implemented only ₦468.6 million, representing just 2.5 percent. He added that the Ministry of Higher Education recorded zero capital performance during the same period.
In contrast, the 2025 third-quarter performance shows progress under the current administration. Health recorded 12 percent, Education achieved 32.2 percent, while Water Resources posted 13.4 percent, figures that he described as signs of improvement rather than decline.
The Commissioner further said that the Yusuf administration inherited deep-rooted structural and financial challenges, particularly in the power and water sectors. He highlighted the restoration of the Tiga Hydropower Project and the backlog of liabilities at the Challawa Power Plant, which included a one-million-dollar offshore debt and a ₦7 billion domestic obligation. He explained that the state’s power distribution grid previously stopped at Tamburawa without adequate off-takers, a gap that has now been addressed by extending the grid to Hadejia Road to boost distribution capacity.
On water supply, Shanono disclosed that the government has procured ten advanced raw-water pumps—six for Challawa and four for Tamburawa—to improve water production across the metropolis. He also mentioned ongoing capacity-building efforts for Water Board engineers and technical staff.
He added that similar improvements are underway in the education sector through renewed investment in infrastructure, teacher development, and learning facilities aimed at reversing years of decline.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, the Commissioner noted that Kano State continues to publish its quarterly budget performance reports within the required timeframe, giving the public full access to fiscal information.
He assured residents that the Yusuf administration remains focused on rebuilding critical infrastructure, enhancing service delivery, and improving the overall socioeconomic wellbeing of the state.