KEBBI State’s decision to provide a N10 billion loan to secure additional Hajj seats for the 2026 pilgrimage has triggered fresh scrutiny of the government’s priorities, especially when weighed against the state’s internally generated revenue and key sectoral allocations.
The loan, approved by Governor Nasir Idris, was used to secure 1,300 extra Hajj slots after the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) set a December 5 deadline for states to complete payments.
The Chairman of the State Pilgrims Welfare Agency, Faruku Aliyu-Yaro, described the governor’s action as compassionate, noting that many intending pilgrims feared missing out before the intervention.
However, a look at Kebbi’s financial records shows that the N10 billion borrowed for Hajj is equivalent to 58.93 per cent of the state’s entire Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for 2024, which stood at N16.97 billion, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Kebbi’s IGR has remained low over the last five years. The state generated N13.78 billion in 2020, N9.86 billion in 2021, N9.15 billion in 2022, and N11.74 billion in 2023, before rising to N16.97 billion in 2024.
The N10 billion loan therefore represents a significant financial commitment for a state that has consistently struggled with revenue expansion. The ICIR’s analysis shows that Kebbi is among the three states with lowest IGR in Nigeria in 2024, trailing Yobe and Ebonyi states closely.
A review of the state’s 2025 budget shows that it allocated N9 billion as a grant to the Pilgrims Board, alongside an additional N138.8 million for the Pilgrims Welfare Agency.
Education and health received N56.6 billion and N53.56 billion respectively, despite the long-standing funding gaps in both sectors.
The amount borrowed for the Hajj intervention is almost one-fifth of what the state plans to spend on either sector throughout the year.
The ICIR reports that the development has continued to spark debate among fiscal analysts and public accountability advocates, who argue that loaning such a huge amount for a religious exercise raises questions about prioritisation, especially in a state grappling with infrastructural deficits, understaffed schools, and health facilities in need of urgent upgrade.
Reacting to this development, a political commentator Mahdi Shehu, described the N10 billion Hajj loan as misplaced priority for a state he said is battling widespread poverty and infrastructural decay.
Writing on X, Shehu said the government was exploiting religious sentiment to mislead citizens who could barely afford basic necessities.
“The intending pilgrims will do better to perform one of the Hajj rituals; stoning the devil by stoning the person deceiving them with this Hajj loan, who qualifies as the ‘bigger devil,’” he wrote.
He accused the government of hoodwinking vulnerable residents, adding that “they just deploy religious sentiment to hoodwink senile people, the same people who can’t afford to eat are given loans to go for pilgrimage. This is simply daftly.”
Shehu referenced Kebbi’s poverty indicators, claiming that over 70 per cent of residents live in poverty, with more than two million children out of school.
He also cited failing hospitals, collapsed primary healthcare centres, poor roads, unpaid gratuities, and worsening youth unemployment as the reason the governor’s decision was erroneous.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M