Kaduna clears N18bn pension, gratuity arrears — Commissioner

The Kaduna State Government says it has cleared N18bn out of about N24bn in pension and gratuity arrears inherited by Governor Uba Sani’s administration.

The state Commissioner for Information and Culture, Ahmed Maiyaki, disclosed this in an interview, attributing the payment and other government interventions to increased revenue from the Federation Account under President Bola Tinubu.

Maiyaki said the administration inherited significant domestic and foreign liabilities, which put pressure on the state’s finances and could have affected its ability to meet salary obligations.

He said the government had also expanded infrastructure development, with 115 road projects currently underway across Kaduna’s 23 local government areas.

According to him, more than half of the projects have been completed, covering over 1,400 kilometres of roads in urban and rural communities.

Maiyaki said the projects were intended not only to improve transportation but also to link farming communities with markets, improve access to healthcare and support security operations.

He cited a 35-kilometre road connecting about 76 communities as one of the projects designed to improve access to farms and markets.

The commissioner also disclosed a sharp increase in agricultural funding, from N1.4bn in 2023 to more than N100bn in the 2026 budget.

He said the additional funding had supported the distribution of fertiliser and other inputs to farmers, as well as investments in irrigation, mechanised farming and extension services.

According to Maiyaki, the state distributed 400 truckloads of NPK and urea fertiliser to farmers in 2024 and 500 truckloads in 2025, while 150,000 smallholder farmers are targeted for fertiliser distribution in 2026.

He said agriculture accounts for about 42 per cent of Kaduna’s Gross Domestic Product and provides approximately 60 per cent of employment in the state.

On education, Maiyaki said the state allocated more than N264bn to the sector in its 2026 budget, with spending directed towards classroom construction and renovation, teacher recruitment and tertiary institution infrastructure.

He claimed that the estimated number of out-of-school children in Kaduna had fallen from about 550,000 in 2023 to approximately 187,000 in 2026.

The commissioner also said the state’s 100 compressed natural gas buses had carried about four million passengers over the past year, providing free transportation to civil servants, students, traders, artisans and other residents.

He estimated that the service had saved beneficiaries about N4bn in transportation costs.

On security, Maiyaki attributed improved movement across the state partly to investments in roads, social programmes and the Kaduna Peace Model.

He also claimed that Kaduna had not recorded a religious conflict since the Sani administration assumed office three years ago.

The commissioner said the government would continue to channel increased revenue into infrastructure and social services while addressing inherited financial obligations.