This was according to the three States’ Budget Performance 2024 Third Quarter Reports, reviewed by SaharaReporters.
The state governments of Kwara, Kano and Borno have spent a total sum of N4,945,021,969.44 on international travels and transport in nine months with zero foreign investments recorded in their state.
This was according to the three States’ Budget Performance 2024 Third Quarter Reports, reviewed by SaharaReporters on Monday.
Kwara State, led by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, spent N1,975,244,982.00 on travel to various foreign nations between January and September 2024, with no record of foreign investment in the state.
The situation is similar in Borno and Kano States despite the high rate of out-of-school children in these northern states.
The Babagana Zulum-led administration also spent N1,273,195,072.20 on ‘INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL & TRANSPORT: OTHERS and N205,983,330.45 on ‘INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL & TRANSPORT: TRAINING’ between first quarter and third quarter of 2024.
In Kano, Abba Kabir Yusuf — who was elected under an opposition party, the New Nigeria People's Party, equally spent N1,064,570,891.79 on ‘INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL & TRANSPORT: TRAINING’ while the sum of N426,027,693.00 was allotted for ‘INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL & TRANSPORT: OTHERS during the same period.
Despite the billions of Naira spent by the state governors on the visits during the country's economic downturn, no single foreign investment was sealed.
A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the third quarter of 2024 also claimed that a total of 32 out of 36 states and the FCT attracted zero capital importation (foreign investment) in the first 9 months of 2024 up from 27 states in the whole of 2023.
Nigeria’s total Capital Importation for the third quarter (Q3) of 2024 witnessed a 51.90% decline from the previous quarter, falling to $1.25billion.
This drop, compared to the $2.60 billion recorded in Q2 2024, highlights a sharp contraction in foreign investments despite an overall annual increase of 91.35% from Q3 2023.
According to the data, Nigeria attracted $1.2billion in the third quarter of 2024 compared to $2.6 billion and $3.3 billion in the second and first quarter of the year respectively.
Total capital importation in the first 9 months of the year totals $7.1 billion compared to $3.9 billion in the whole of 2023.
The significant year-on-year rise in Nigeria’s total capital importation, from $3.9 billion in 2023 to $7.1 billion in 2024, masks the uneven distribution, suggesting that overall growth has failed to translate into widespread economic benefits across states.
The NBS data shows that only Lagos, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded capital importation so far this year.
Lagos State attracted the highest chunk of $4.6 billion followed by the FCT, which recorded $2.39 billion imported in the first 9 months of 2024.
Ekiti State attracted $120 thousand so far with $100 thousand coming in the third quarter of the year and $10 thousand each in the first and second quarter respectively.
Enugu and Kaduna states only attracted capital inflows in the third quarter of the year with $180 thousand and $1.95 million respectively.
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