11 States Spend N21.83bn On Foreign Trips As Capital Projects Lag

…Lagos, Plateau Lead With N12.43bn Travel Spending

…Enugu, Ebonyi Spend Below 10% Of Capital Budgets

Eleven state governments recorded a combined N21.83bn expenditure on foreign travel in the first half of 2026, while several of the states spent less than 15 per cent of their annual capital budgets on projects by the end of June.

The expenditure analysed by THE WHISTLER, based on states’ second-quarter 2026 budget implementation reports, covers spending under the category “International Travel & Transport – Others” and excludes expenditure recorded under the separate category “International Travel & Transport: Training”.

The states are Lagos, Plateau, Kano, Jigawa, Edo, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu, Nasarawa, Ogun and Katsina.

Lagos recorded the highest expenditure, spending N6.82bn on international travel and transport during the period, representing 17 per cent of its N40.21bn annual allocation for the item.

Plateau followed with N5.61bn, representing 65.2 per cent of its N8.61bn annual budget, while Kano spent N2.41bn, or 62.5 per cent of its N3.87bn allocation.

Jigawa spent N1.79bn, representing 56.7 per cent of its N3.17bn budget, while Edo recorded N1.32bn, equivalent to 17.1 per cent of its N7.72bn allocation.

Benue spent N1.08bn, representing 24.1 per cent of its N4.47bn budget, while Ebonyi’s expenditure stood at N702.25m, or 25.4 per cent of its N2.76bn allocation.

Enugu recorded N597.84m in expenditure, representing 25.8 per cent of its N2.32bn budget, while Nasarawa spent N577.14m, equivalent to 18.3 per cent of its N3.15bn allocation.

Ogun spent N516.08m, representing 12.3 per cent of its N4.18bn budget, while Katsina recorded the lowest expenditure at N403m, representing 35 per cent of its N1.15bn allocation.

The figures indicate that Plateau, Kano and Jigawa had utilised more than half of their annual allocations for international travel and transport by the end of June.

Meanwhile, capital expenditure performance remained relatively low in several of the states, raising questions about the pace of implementation of infrastructure and other capital projects at the midpoint of the fiscal year.

In Ogun State, capital expenditure stood at N72.66bn at the end of the second quarter, against an annual appropriation of N1.04tn. This represented 6.97 per cent of the approved capital budget.

The state’s capital spending increased from N23.75bn in the first quarter to N72.66bn by the end of June.

Nasarawa State recorded capital expenditure of N34.42bn against an annual allocation of N315.25bn, representing 10.9 per cent performance.

The state’s budget implementation report indicated that although capital expenditure had improved compared with the first quarter, implementation remained below the expected mid-year level.

In Benue State, cumulative capital expenditure stood at N48.75bn against an approved capital budget of N381.91bn, representing 12.8 per cent performance. The figure was below the N190.96bn benchmark, equivalent to 50 per cent of the annual allocation, for the period.

Plateau State recorded capital expenditure of N75.95bn in the first half of the year, representing 15.2 per cent of its annual capital budget.

Jigawa State spent approximately N104.14bn on capital projects, representing 15.1 per cent of its N689.82bn capital budget.

Katsina State recorded cumulative capital expenditure of N130.11bn by the end of the second quarter, representing 17.9 per cent of its approved capital budget.

The state government acknowledged that capital expenditure performance in the second quarter was relatively low compared with budgetary provisions. It said its spending priorities included infrastructure in education, primary healthcare, water supply, roads and rural development.

Edo State recorded capital expenditure of N123.15bn against an annual allocation of N633.32bn, representing 19.4 per cent performance. Its capital budget performance reportedly slowed from 44 per cent in the first quarter to 33 per cent in the second quarter.

Enugu State recorded capital expenditure of N86.78bn during the second quarter of 2026. Consequently, its cumulative capital expenditure for the first six months of the year stood at N118.14bn, representing 9.1 per cent of its original capital budget of N1.30tn.

Ebonyi State, which approved N719.55bn for capital expenditure in 2026, recorded cumulative spending of N62.61bn by the end of June, representing 8.7 per cent of its annual capital budget.

The state government said the expenditure represented an improvement over the first quarter and indicated that project implementation had gained momentum during the reporting period.

Lagos State recorded a stronger capital expenditure performance, spending N772.64bn in the first six months of the year, equivalent to 33 per cent of its annual capital budget.

The state’s cumulative recurrent expenditure stood at N767.15bn, representing 36.4 per cent of its annual budget.

Kano State recorded capital expenditure of N267.75bn against an approved capital budget of N1.05tn, representing 25.5 per cent performance in the first half of the year.

The figures show significant differences in the pace of budget implementation among the states, with some recording capital expenditure below 15 per cent of their annual allocations by the end of June, despite allocating billions of naira to international travel and transport.

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