Kebbi: N627bn Revenue Dispute Takes New Turn As Two Camps Clash

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Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the management of Kebbi State’s finances has become a major political issue, with the African Democratic Congress, ADC, demanding explanations over funds it says accrued to the state between May 2023 and October 2025.

At the centre of the dispute is N627.14 billion, which the Kebbi ADC claims the state received during the period and is asking the government to account for through detailed revenue, expenditure and project records.

The state government has dismissed allegations of financial mismanagement, maintaining that projected revenue contained in government budgets should not be treated as money actually received by the state.

The dispute has expanded into a political confrontation involving the Kebbi ADC, the state government and the All Progressives Congress, APC, with the ruling party also raising questions about the financial record of former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who is supporting the ADC ahead of the 2027 election.

Bello Abdullahi, Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Kebbi State Campaign Council, said the party arrived at the N627.14 billion figure using data attributed to the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the National Bureau of Statistics, NEITI and the World Bank.

“Our N627.14 billion figure is not an allegation. It is compiled from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the National Bureau of Statistics, NEITI and the World Bank, covering May 2023 to October 2025,” Abdullahi said.

He challenged the APC and Kebbi State Government to present alternative figures if they disagreed with the amount, arguing that merely listing completed projects did not satisfy the opposition’s request for financial documentation.

“What he did not provide was the account itself: no total receipts, no breakdown, no audited figures, no procurement records, no documents,” Abdullahi said, referring to the APC’s response to the allegations.

The ADC has also raised questions about the gap between projected and actual revenue and expenditure, including allocations to agriculture, works and transport, education and healthcare.

The opposition specifically sought explanations for about N1 billion reportedly spent on vehicle maintenance and roughly N4.6 billion on local travel and transportation, demanding details of the spending and the benefits derived from it.

The ADC also called for verifiable documentation of projects that received billions of naira in allocations, insisting that citizens should be able to establish what was budgeted, approved, spent and ultimately delivered.

No missing money, only unrealised revenue — Kebbi Govt

The state government, however, accused the ADC of incorrectly presenting projected revenue that was not realised as money that had disappeared.

Ibrahim Abubakar Jombali, Special Adviser to Governor Nasir Idris on Public Enlightenment and Orientation, said the opposition had failed to properly understand how government budgets work.

“A budget is not a bank account,” Jombali said, explaining that a budget reflects anticipated revenue and proposed expenditure rather than funds already in government accounts.

He rejected the claim that the shortfall in the Capital Development Fund amounted to missing money, saying, “There is no missing money in the figures he cites. There is only unrealised revenue.”

According to the state government, Kebbi received over N172 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee, representing 82.6 per cent of its N209.25 billion projection, while its internally generated revenue also fell below target.

The government said it responded to the revenue shortfall by adjusting expenditure and spent almost N240 billion, including more than N152 billion on capital projects.

The figures are part of the broader dispute surrounding Kebbi’s N580.33 billion 2025 budget, which the government had previously defended against allegations of financial mismanagement.

The government explained that the Capital Development Fund was projected at N276.27 billion but generated only N47.45 billion, stressing that the difference of more than N228 billion constituted unrealised revenue rather than missing funds.

It further stated that total revenue, including the opening balance, was approximately N275.39 billion, while total expenditure stood at about N239.77 billion. According to the government, actual capital expenditure was approximately N152.85 billion after the capital provision was reviewed from N451.01 billion to N442.38 billion.

Yahaya Sarki, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to Governor Nasir Idris, challenged the ADC to point to specific spending it considered unlawful, wasteful or unaccounted for instead of making broad allegations.

“If the ADC believes a particular expenditure was unlawful, wasteful or unaccounted for, then name it. Show the contract. Show the document. Show the evidence,” Sarki said.

He argued that the key issue was not merely how much money entered the state but how available funds were appropriated and utilised, asking: “What was budgeted? What was approved? What was spent? And what was delivered?”

The ADC has maintained that the government’s response does not meet its demand for comprehensive financial and procurement records covering the period in question.

“A party press statement is not a financial statement. The question we asked is a government question. It requires government organs to answer,” Abdullahi said, as the ADC urged the House of Assembly, Accountant-General, Auditor-General and public procurement authorities to release the relevant records.

Meanwhile, the political dispute has also prompted an APC counterattack involving Malami, with the party questioning the ADC’s demand for accountability from the Kebbi government while properties linked to the former minister and members of his family have featured in a separate forfeiture case.

The APC has used the matter to question whether the accountability standard being demanded from the Kebbi government should equally be applied to Malami and his political allies.

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