STATES SPEND N1.7TN ON TRIPS, MEALS, OTHERS, BORROW N988BN.

The 36 states of the federation have spent N1.71tn on recurrent expenditures including allowances, foreign trips, office stationery, aircraft maintenance, and more in the first nine months of 2023.

This is according to an analysis of their budget performance reports sourced from Open Nigerian States, a budgIT-backed website that serves as a repository of government budget data. 24 states analysed by The PUNCH had budget implementation data covering the first three quarters of the year while 12 states had data for the first two quarters of the year.

The states cumulatively spent N802.43bn on salaries across the data period available, but The PUNCH isolated this data set to focus on other recurrent spending items. If salaries were added, total recurrent spending would have been N2.52tn.