Massive Shake-Up In Kaduna: Every Ward Gets ₦100m As Gov Sani Launches New Era Of People-Powered Development

According to Ireporter Online, Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has unveiled an unprecedented grassroots development plan in the 2026 draft budget, allocating ₦100 million to each of the state’s 255 political wards. The announcement was made during a special town hall session held on Friday for the public presentation of next year’s spending plan.

Governor Sani explained that the initiative emerged from widespread complaints and feedback gathered during last year’s consultations, where citizens highlighted significant infrastructure gaps across rural communities. He noted that by 2024, findings revealed that 12 of Kaduna’s 23 local government areas had not seen a single kilometre of new road construction in 12 years, prompting a shift toward a more inclusive, bottom-up budgeting process.

The Governor stated that the ₦100 million allocation per ward would empower communities to identify, prioritize, and execute their most urgent projects, including feeder roads, water systems, health facilities, security installations, farm-to-market access routes, and local economic programmes. He stressed that decisions on project selection will now be driven by the people themselves rather than by officials “on the high table,” emphasizing that the funds belong to the communities and must reflect their actual needs.

He highlighted that this people-centered approach has already influenced state-level decisions, such as the increase of the water sector budget from ₦10 million to ₦100 million after citizens demanded greater investment. The Governor added that the administration’s renewed focus on rural development followed revelations of severe neglect, which led to the rollout of major road projects currently ongoing across all LGAs—many nearing 90 to 95 percent completion. These include inter-community roads stretching 24km, 35km in Sanga, 22.5km in Soba, 24.7km in Zangon Kataf, and 14.2km in Igabi.

Governor Sani further noted that public inputs also shaped the state’s health sector priorities. Kaduna is now the only state in Nigeria to upgrade all 255 primary healthcare centres from Level 1 to Level 2, earning recognition for having the Northwest’s most robust primary healthcare system. Additionally, 16 general hospitals are undergoing renovation and equipment upgrades, with nine already completed.

Meanwhile, the State Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Mukhtar Ahmed, disclosed that Kaduna will continue servicing debts inherited from past administrations for the next 37 years, with repayment stretching to 2062. He explained that the government has earmarked ₦80.2 billion in the 2026 budget strictly for the repayment of both foreign and local debts accumulated before Governor Sani took office.

Contrary to public speculation, Ahmed clarified that the current administration has not taken any new loans since assuming office in 2023, relying instead on prudent resource management. He added that although the state has begun offsetting parts of the debt, the long-term structure of foreign obligations means repayment will span several decades.

Ahmed also announced comprehensive reforms in contract processing and public financial management, declaring that contractors will now receive immediate payment once their documentation is verified—ending the era of delayed processing, lobbying and bureaucratic bottlenecks.

According to the proposed 2026 budget, Kaduna plans to spend ₦985.9 billion, reflecting a 24.73 percent increase from the previous year. The plan earmarks ₦286.2 billion for recurrent expenditure and ₦699.7 billion for capital projects, to be financed through an opening balance of ₦150 billion, projected recurrent revenue of ₦584.3 billion, and additional receipts amounting to ₦251.6 billion. The state’s expected FAAC allocation is projected to rise significantly to ₦472.1 billion, boosting the government’s capacity to fund critical development initiatives.