Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has said his administration has repaid more than ₦90 billion from debts inherited from previous governments and has not contracted any new loans since taking office.
The claim is tied to a wider political and fiscal debate in Kaduna following Sani’s repeated complaints that his government inherited heavy obligations from the administration of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai. In 2024, Sani said Kaduna inherited about $587 million in foreign debt, ₦85 billion in domestic debt and 115 contractual liabilities. TheCable also reported that the Kaduna PDP later asked him to probe the El-Rufai administration over those debts.
The most recent Debt Management Office data shows Kaduna’s domestic debt at ₦84.64 billion as of December 31, 2025, compared with ₦87.28 billion as of June 30, 2023. That suggests the domestic debt stock reduced only slightly in DMO records, though government “debt payment” can include servicing, interest, repayments on inherited obligations and contractual liabilities not fully reflected as domestic debt stock.
On foreign debt, DMO figures show Kaduna’s external debt increased from $569.38 million in June 2023 to $684.29 million in December 2025. This does not automatically prove new borrowing by the Sani administration because Kaduna officials have argued that ongoing drawdowns came from loans approved under previous administrations and that naira devaluation sharply increased the local-currency burden of existing foreign loans.
Kaduna officials have previously denied taking new loans. In October 2024, the state government dismissed reports that it borrowed ₦36 billion, saying the figure reflected inherited loan commitments and exchange-rate effects. The government specifically mentioned World Bank-backed programmes such as AGILE, SURWASH and ACReSAL as agreements reached before Sani took office.
In January 2026, Kaduna’s Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Mukhtar Ahmed Monrovia, again said Governor Sani had not borrowed funds for projects and that the 2026 budget would be financed through statutory allocations, internally generated revenue and grants. He also said previous administrations contracted the loans now being drawn down and that cancelling them could attract penalties higher than servicing costs.
The investment claim is harder to independently verify. Kaduna government statements have cited rising investment interest, with one official state report saying 23 investments worth over $743 million were actualised between 2023 and 2025. Other public remarks attributed to the governor have referred to larger investment pipelines, including figures above $2.5 billion. The key distinction is that announced, targeted or committed investments are not the same as fully completed projects or realised cash inflows.
The real factual position is therefore this: Sani’s “no new loans” claim is consistent with repeated Kaduna government statements, but DMO data still shows external debt growth, apparently linked to inherited loan drawdowns and exchange-rate effects. His ₦90 billion repayment claim is a government-reported figure that requires a detailed public breakdown to verify fully. The $2.5 billion investment figure should be treated as claimed or committed investment unless the state releases project-by-project evidence showing realised inflows.
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