The ongoing reforms embarked upon by the Kano State Government are gaining strong momentum in boosting internally generated revenue (IGR), as the state now ranks fifth on an index measuring IGR growth, following Enugu, Bayelsa, Abia, and Osun.
However, despite the growth in IGR, the state is classified as one of the 28 states in Nigeria that still depend significantly on federal transfers and other external inflows of funds for their operations, according to BudgIT’s 2025 State of States report.
While the state made progress in some fiscal areas, its overall fiscal performance was rated as “middling” in 2025, with a score of 0.68 on one index. This indicates that although there has been steady improvement, the performance remains modest.
The report noted that Kano State consistently demonstrated strong performance in growing its IGR in 2024, a development that placed it among the top states with the highest momentum in this area. However, it also highlighted significant gaps, particularly in budget implementation within the health sector.
In the area of health, the state was listed among 30 states that failed to implement at least 80 percent of their health budgets in 2024, in contrast with the seven states that achieved this target.
The report warned that most states are not effectively deploying the increased revenues—whether from federal allocations or IGR—towards delivering critical social services required to improve citizens’ living conditions.
In the most recent State of States report, Kano State was ranked 27th out of the 36 Nigerian states and positioned as the 7th best-performing state in fiscal performance. This represents a notable improvement, as Kano moved up three places from its 10th position in the 2024 ranking.
In a separate but related assessment, the 2025 CIAPS Governance Performance Index (CGPI), Kano was ranked 17th with a score of 48.5 percent. Key performance indicators contributing to Kano’s stronger showing in recent reports include its ranking as 2nd on the 2025 Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI), and its rapid IGR growth, having doubled its revenue in 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Kano State initially budgeted ₦72.001 billion for health in its original 2024 budget. This figure represented a 16.46 percent allocation of the total initial budget of ₦437.338 billion, making it one of the few Nigerian states to meet the 15 percent Abuja Declaration benchmark.
Later reports, likely reflecting a revised or supplementary budget, indicated a health allocation of approximately ₦90.6 billion, representing about 16 to 16.5 percent of a larger revised total budget of around ₦549 billion for the year.
The state government also approved an additional ₦99 billion supplementary budget at one point, focusing on infrastructure, health, and education, further increasing the total expenditure plan.
The health budget was distributed among various agencies, including the Ministry of Health, Hospital Management Board, Primary Healthcare Management Board, College of Nursing and Midwifery, and the Drugs Management and Medical Consumables Agency.
The increased funding was aimed at improving healthcare services, upgrading infrastructure, and recruiting health workers across the state.
However, in the outgoing budget year (2025), the state has made education its primary focus, allocating 31 percent of the total budget to education and ₦90.6 billion to health.
The exact reasons for Kano State’s failure to achieve up to 80 percent implementation of its health budget in 2024 are not explicitly detailed in publicly available reports, as most performance assessments tend to highlight successes or general challenges.
However, based on recurring issues in the state’s health sector, and common challenges across Nigerian states, the likely reasons for underperformance may include systemic inefficiencies, funding delays, weak budget monitoring, and bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Responding to enquiries from BusinessDay on the state’s performance in the recently released 2025 BudgIT State of States report, Mercy Musa, Executive Director of Frontier for Peace Advocacy and Governance Initiative (FPAGI), said that specific official statements or audit reports detailing the precise 2024 performance percentage and reasons for missing the 80 percent target have not been made public.
She, however, noted that the primary reasons highlighted by the report—why Kano, alongside many other Nigerian states, achieved less than 80% in the implementation of its health targets and budgets in 2024 ranges from:
“Revenue Shortfalls: The state experienced significant shortfalls in its projected Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and receipts from aid and grants in 2024. This lack of available funds meant that many planned projects and health targets could not be executed as intended.
“Weak Primary Healthcare System: A significant number of Primary Healthcare (PHC) centers remain ill-equipped, understaffed, and in a state of disrepair. A large percentage (over 75%) of PHCs still provide only limited services for common conditions like hypertension, indicating a major gap in the delivery of essential healthcare at the grassroots level.
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“Inadequate Human Resources: There are persistent challenges related to staff capacity gaps, an insufficient number of health workers, and a general understaffing problem in many health facilities.
“Poor Planning and Supervision: Issues such as delays in the submission of quarterly business plans by health facilities, a lack of regular and effective supportive supervision from state health agencies, and poor coordination can hinder the timely disbursement and utilization of funds.
“Focus on Recurrent Expenditure: While the budget allocation to health may be high on paper, states often struggle to shift from recurrent expenditure (salaries, overheads) to capital and human development spending that delivers real impact.
“Lack of Effective Linkage between Health Levels: There is a known issue with the lack of effective referral and feedback systems between primary and secondary health facilities, which creates gaps in the continuity of patient care”, Mercy explained.
