The Presidency has said that increased Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to states are easing pressure on governors and reducing their reliance on bank loans to fund development projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated this on Sunday in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, during an engagement with editors and journalists touring federal and state projects across the South-East.
He explained that the rise in statutory allocations has strengthened the capacity of state governments to deliver infrastructure, education, and health projects without resorting to borrowing.
“We have seen the landmark projects the state government is executing, and it is a reflection that all the funds the federal government is giving the states are deployed into productivity,” Onanuga said.
“After collecting FAAC, we can see that the state governments are considering and undertaking projects that would have been impossible before now. Many of them don’t have to go to the banks to borrow money to develop their states in education, health, infrastructure, among others.”
He further said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is prioritising road infrastructure development, describing ongoing projects as unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. Onanuga referenced major initiatives such as the Trans-Saharan road corridors, noting that some of the projects date back to colonial-era concepts but are now being implemented under the current government.
“The president is actually doing well, especially in the area of road infrastructure, which has never happened in this country,” he said.
He also described President Tinubu as a leader who takes a deliberate and strategic approach to governance, saying he “thinks deeply before implementation” and is both “a thinker and a doer.”
Meanwhile, the Presidency dismissed criticisms alleging neglect of the South-East, insisting that ongoing federal and state projects in the region demonstrate clear development progress.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said such claims do not reflect the situation on the ground, pointing to visible infrastructure projects as evidence of federal presence in the region.
“It is now about hard evidence and concrete data,” Dare said. “Governance is about evidence, and the evidential processes have shown clearly that the federal government is delivering.”
He added that critics who ignore ongoing infrastructure developments are relying on sentiment rather than facts, stressing that the administration will continue to demonstrate its performance through measurable outcomes and data-driven reporting.
