State Governors Spend N512bn on Houses, Offices, Travels

The most recent report on the expenditures of 33 states’ governments is sufficient to cover the salaries of millions of Nigerians, despite the loud cries from some states that their monthly salaries are insufficient and they are suffering. The report explains why the governors are either laughing or crying over thousands of Nigerians who don’t even get to eat every day.

In the first half of 2026, 33 state governments spent at least N512.10 billion on government buildings, offices, travel, and transportation—roughly 4,713 times more than the total six-month salary of Nigeria’s 36 governors.

The analysis showed that while a governor’s stated monthly salary of N503,000 translates to N3.018m over six months, the combined six-month salary of all 36 governors would amount to just N108.65m.

In contrast, the available records revealed that N92.09 billion was spent under the travel and transport budget heads, and N420.01 billion was identified under Government House, the Governor’s Office, and related executive administration expenditure.

The combined amount stood at N512.10bn. The six-month salary of all 36 governors, therefore, represented only 0.02 per cent of the identified expenditure on executive offices and travel.

The figures offer a striking contrast to the ongoing debate over the official salaries of Nigerian governors.

Sheriff Oborevwori, the Delta State governor, added that his monthly salary was N503,000, arguing that some senior civil servants, including permanent secretaries, earned N900,000 monthly, more than state governors.

But an analysis of the cost of maintaining the offices occupied by governors shows that their salaries represent only a fraction of the wider public expenditure and perks associated with the offices.

While the personal salary of a governor may appear modest compared with the salaries of some senior public servants, the analysis shows that the wider cost of maintaining the executive office runs into hundreds of billions of naira. The figure is not the personal income of governors. Government House and Governor’s Office budget heads cover a broad range of official expenses, including administrative operations, staff, protocol, maintenance, official residences, utilities, security-related activities, state functions and other expenditures required to run the executive arm of government.

Similarly, travel and transport spending covers official local and foreign trips, transportation and related expenses across the wider state public service.

However, the figures provide an indication of the enormous public cost attached to maintaining the structures surrounding the offices of state governors and the larger fiscal question on the total public cost of maintaining the office and the administrative structures around it.

The analysis is based on available budget implementation reports for the first and second quarters of 2026, using the largest identifiable Government House, Governor’s Office or executive administration expenditure line in each state, alongside the general travel and transport expenditure.

Commenting on the development, a development economist, Aliyu Ilias, said the enormous cost associated with maintaining executive offices showed why it was misleading to focus only on a governor’s basic salary without taking into account the wider expenses. He argued that executive offices in Nigeria had become excessively expensive to maintain, partly because political office holders had significant influence over how the institutions under their control were structured and funded.

“Ordinarily, anything that has to do with executive office in Nigeria appears to be much more expensive because they actually direct how it works there. And with the docile state assemblies we have, who always concur, it is clear that our democracy is very expensive because of the way we maintain their offices, and that is why it is very juicy.

“Some even want to go as far as borrowing money to win an election, and, when they enter office, they believe they are going to repay the money. So, it is not correct to say that a permanent secretary is earning better than a governor when you isolate the governor’s salary without adding the other travel perks and expenses attached to the office.

“The governor just wanted to be sensational. But with the addition you have done, it shows that they are taking the bigger cheque from the spending arising from the high income that the state is generating,” Ilias said.

According to a state-by-state breakdown of 2026 Government House or Governor’s Office expenditures, Kogi had the highest amount at N65.34 billion, followed by Ogun with N45.26 billion and Lagos with N45.04 billion.