Nigerian Concord Newspaper
A renowned Financial expert, James Ayati has criticized the government of Benue State under Governor Hyacinth Alia for borrowing N11 billion from a commercial bank for infrastructure when the state reported N55.92 billion in unspent capital receipts at the end of June 2026.
Ayati who raised several questions asked if Benue State is broke despite that the government made it known in June that there was still a certain N56bn in the state treasury unspent.
Ayati who was always raising criticisms between 2008 and 2014 on how local government administration was bastardized in his fresh analysis asked if Governor Alia has mismanaged Benue’s rising revenue and left the State financially stranded.
He also queried the reason behind borrowing a fresh N11bn instead of using part of the available funds which is N56bn.
Ayati asked why Governor Alia is loading more debt onto Benue state taxpayers if the state isn’t actually broke as thought.
He also asked if Governor Hyacinth Alia has been squandering Benue’s funds, an act he said may have made the state to go broke.
Ayati further asked why Governor Alia obtained a loan of N11bn from a commercial bank with a cash back collateral of N54bn in government account unused.
According to Ayati, the Alia administration owes Benue people an answer to a simple but important question which is why the administration borrowed N11 billion from a commercial bank for infrastructure when the state reported N55.92 billion in unspent capital receipts at the end of June 2026.
Saying that the question is based on figures contained in the state government’s own published financial reports, he noted that at the end of the 2025 financial year, Benue State had N44.74 billion in unspent capital receipts, according to the Benue State 2025 Audited Financial Statement.
Reacting to what happened in Q1 2026, Ayati said that according to the Benue State Budget Implementation Report (BIR), Q1 2026, the state recorded N128.17 billion in earned revenue between January and March 2026. He noted that during the same period, total expenditure stood at N82.28 billion, leaving N45.89 billion in unspent capital receipts at the end of March 2026 (Benue State Budget Implementation Report, Q1 2026).
The financial expert further wrote that the Benue State BIR, Q2 2026, shows that the state earned another N94.26 billion in statutory revenue between April and June 2026. “Added to the N45.89 billion unspent balance carried forward from Q1, this brought the reported capital receipts available to N140.15 billion” he noted.
He wrote further: “The state reported N84.23 billion in actual expenditure during the quarter, leaving N55.92 billion in unspent capital receipts at the end of June 2026 (Benue State Budget Implementation Report, Q2 2026). The Bigger Picture: Revenue Is Rising, Debt Is Being Serviced. Benue’s financial position also raises a broader question”
He stressed that the state’s annual actual revenue has increased significantly — from about N100 billion in 2022, to about N148 billion in 2023, N328 billion in 2024, and N443 billion in 2025, noting that at the same time, the state’s domestic debt reportedly declined by nearly 40%, from about N188 billion in Q1 2023 to N113 billion, according to reports from the State Debt Management Office.
“Since 2023, the state has also paid about 15% of its actual total revenue
toward debt servicing, amounting to roughly N171 billion. So, if Benue’s actual revenue is growing and its domestic debt stock has fallen significantly, why did the state still need to take on another N11 billion commercial loan for infrastructure” he said.
Ayati said that his query is a question about financial planning, cash management and value for money, adding that if the state had N55.92 billion in unspent capital receipts at the end of June 2026, why was an additional N11 billion commercial loan needed for infrastructure — an amount equivalent to only about one-fifth of the reported unspent balance? “Could the existing unspent funds not have been deployed first. Were there legal, contractual or other restrictions preventing the use of those funds? He asked.
He also asked that iif the N55.92 billion was genuinely available for capital spending, why borrow at a cost to taxpayers when significant funds remained unspent.
“These are legitimate questions for any government managing public resources. Benue People Deserve Answers. The figures come from the government’s own financial reports. The issue, therefore, is not whether Benue has money on paper’ he concluded.