In 2023, when His Excellency, Governor Dauda Lawal, ascended to the governorship of Zamfara State against considerable odds, he brought with him a wealth of experience as a seasoned banker in the financial and banking sector.
His emergence as governor proved timely, as his mandate was to revitalize a state that had fallen into a state of extreme stagnation and disrepair. Previous administrations had rendered Zamfara nearly ungovernable, with widespread poverty and a lack of meaningful development.
Governor Lawal, however, entered into the political arena with a clear vision; to inject life back into the state and prepare it for competitiveness with its regional counterparts.
Zamfara is rich in abundant minerals, yet it has been marred by infrastructural deficits and pervasive poverty, leading many to believe that true development was out of reach. Unfazed by these challenges, Governor Lawal embraced the monumental task of restoring the state. His determination and proactive approach earned him the moniker of ‘Chief Rescuer.’ Today, just over two years into his administration, Zamfara has emerged as one of the most improved states in the region, far exceeding initial expectations.
The journey of transforming a sub-national economy within Nigeria’s federal system mandates a dual strategy; aggressive fiscal consolidation paired with targeted socio-economic investments.
Historically, Zamfara faced significant hurdles, including an over-reliance on federal allocations, systemic inefficiencies in public expenditure, and a turbulent security landscape that repeatedly hampered agricultural and industrial productivity. Once hailed as the ‘Farming State,’ Zamfara had struggled to live up to that name due to ongoing security and infrastructural challenges.
However, the period from 2023 to 2025 marks a pivotal shift in the state’s developmental trajectory under Governor Dauda Lawal’s leadership. This era is defined by a transition from fiscal fragility to emerging viability. Objective performance metrics, bolstered by comprehensive institutional reforms, reflect this transformation. To illustrate the depth and sustainability of these changes, detailed analyses will delve into comparative statistics regarding revenue growth, debt sustainability, and sectoral performance. This comprehensive evaluation aims to provide a clearer understanding of the mechanisms driving Zamfara’s revitalization and the long-term viability of these reforms.
The creation of a Sub-National Fiscal Resilience
The primary indicator of Zamfara’s fiscal recovery is its dramatic ascent in the annual State of States rankings conducted by BudgIT, a renowned civic organization dedicated to fiscal transparency and accountability.
In 2023, at the onset of the current administration, Zamfara was ranked 36th, the lowest position among Nigeria’s 36 states. By 2024, the state had ascended to 26th, and the 2025 report reveals a further jump to 17th position.
This 19-place improvement within two years suggests a fundamental change in the state’s capacity to manage its resources and generate independent revenue.
This ranking is not merely symbolic; it is built on a massive expansion of the state’s revenue base. The recurrent revenue of Zamfara State increased from N87.44 billion in 2023 to N246.88 billion in 2024, representing a year-on-year growth rate of approximately 182.34%.
The Total revenue, which includes capital receipts and aids, grew from N144.95 billion to N315.53 billion in the same period, a 117.68% increase. While a portion of this growth is attributable to the increased Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements resulting from national-level fiscal changes, the state’s internal efforts to optimize revenue collection have been pivotal.
The BudgIT report further classifies Zamfara as one of the few states that would theoretically possess independent viability if they were to exist as sovereign entities. This classification is reserved for states that demonstrate a limited and decreasing dependence on federally distributed revenue for their basic operations.
Although Zamfara’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) currently accounts for approximately 10.31% of its total revenue, the rapid expansion of the non-tax revenue component specifically; fees and licenses indicates a diversification of the local tax base.
Non-tax revenue, which had plummeted to N1.07 billion in 2022, rebounded to N7.42 billion in 2023 and further increased to N12.91 billion in 2024. This recovery in non-tax revenue is largely driven by a 5,921.47% increase in licenses in 2023 followed by a 44.53% growth in 2024, alongside an 88.24% increase in revenue from fees.
The data indicates that while FAAC revenue surged by 239.18% between 2023 and 2024, the state’s IGR also showed a positive trajectory, rising by 14.86% from N22.16 billion in 2023 to N25.46 billion in 2024. This growth is particularly significant when viewed through the lens of long-term trends; for instance, the state’s IGR was as low as N2.74 billion in 2015. The current administration’s ability to maintain a growth trajectory in IGR amidst security challenges suggests that the implementation of the Harmonized Revenue Law and the digitalization of permit processing are beginning to yield results.
Component Estimation of Revenue Growth
The internal revenue structure reveals a nuanced shift from traditional taxation to service-based non-tax revenue. In 2024, total revenue generated was N358.9 billion, representing an 82% performance of the approved target of N437 billion. This performance was underpinned by steady improvements in Value Added Tax (VAT), IGR, and federal statutory allocations, alongside aids and grants from development partners.
A detailed look at the state’s IGR shows that in 2024, Zamfara ranked 25th among the 36 states in terms of absolute IGR. While the total tax collection saw a marginal decline of 1.63\% to N18.32 billion, the revenue from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) strengthened by 101.59% to N7.14 billion. This reflects ongoing revenue reforms in government offices, although expansion in the mining and agriculture sectors remains critical for future growth.
The precipitous decline in fines, noted at 78.15%, suggests a potential shift in enforcement strategies or a behavioral change in compliance, though the massive growth in fees and licenses more than compensated for this loss.
The revenue from fees, specifically, grew from N82.44 million in 2022 to N3.06 billion in 2023 and further to N5.76 billion in 2024. This trajectory indicates a systematic effort to capture previously unrecorded or diverted service-related revenues.
Building Institutional Integrity and Payroll Sanitization
A critical component of the fiscal consolidation strategy has been the sanitization of the state’s payroll for the civil servant in the state. For decades, many Nigerian states have struggled with “ghost workers”; fictitious entries on the payroll used to siphon public funds.
In August 2024, the Lawal administration constituted a high-level verification committee, led by the Head of Service and including the Commissioner of Finance and various Auditors-General, to integrate the state’s nominal and payroll systems. The findings of this audit, concluded by February 2025, were profound, exposing deep-seated systemic corruption.
The committee identified 2,363 ghost workers who were collectively drawing N193.64 million in monthly salaries. Furthermore, the audit uncovered 220 minors fraudulently listed as civil servants and receiving monthly wages.
The audit report highlighted that 75 workers had first appointment dates that were not in compliance with the issue dates, as they were minors at the time of employment. The significance of these findings extends beyond the immediate N200 million in monthly savings (N2.4 billion annually).
This cleanup was a mandatory prerequisite for the implementation of the new national minimum wage of N70,000, which the state started paying in March 2025. By removing non-existent or ineligible recipients from the payroll, the administration ensured that the increased wage bill for legitimate workers was sustainable and would not compromise the state’s ability to fund capital projects. This move towards transparency is further supported by the introduction of the Zamfara e-Governance Platform (e-GovConnect) and the Digital Literacy Framework, aimed at modernizing the bureaucracy and reducing the human-centric vulnerabilities that allow for payroll fraud.
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