On Monday, Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa, said the state has not taken any loans since President Tinubu assumed office.
Sule made this claim during a town hall meeting on tax reform bills, organised by Channels Television.
“I heard somebody saying that since President Tinubu came into power, the governors have had improved revenue, and they want to know what the governors are doing with the revenues,” the governor said.
“Go to the various states; you will say what the governors are doing with the revenue.
“In Nasarawa state, I have not borrowed money since President Tinubu came to power, yet today, I can boast of the 10,000 hectares of land that I using for agriculture, all the equipment I have bought for agriculture, all the payments we have made… I can mention on and on.”
VERIFICATION
Tinubu was elected in February and officially sworn in on May 29, 2023.
To verify Sule’s claim, TheCable examined the domestic and external debt records of sub-nationals from the Debt Management Office (DMO) covering the period from the start of Tinubu’s administration to the present.
DOMESTIC DEBT
In June 2023, a month after Tinubu assumed office, the DMO reported Nasarawa’s domestic debt at N71.11 billion.
By June 2024, this figure had dropped to N23.94 billion.
This represents a 66 percent reduction in the state’s domestic debt since the president took office.
EXTERNAL DEBT
A review of Nasarawa’s external debt data from DMO shows that it stood at $52.33 million in June 2023.
By June 2024, it had slightly increased to $52.36 million.
This reflects a growth of less than one percent since Tinubu assumed office.
VERDICT
Sule’s claim that his administration has not borrowed since Tinubu assumed office is largely correct, according to available data from the DMO.
