Tinubu Administration Defends Fiscal Record After $1.5bn State Payouts

The Nigerian government has distributed 2.45 trillion naira ($1.5bn) in special intervention funds to the country’s 36 states over the last 17 months, a pro-government monitoring group has said. The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) hailed the move as evidence of “fiscal discipline” and a commitment to non-partisan development across Africa’s most populous nation.The payments, which were reportedly made between March 2024 and August 2025, are separate from the regular monthly allocations states receive from the central federation account.

No State Left Behind’In a statement, the TMSG argued that the disbursement of these funds—sourced primarily from “non-oil savings”—shows that President Bola Tinubu is prioritising infrastructure and security regardless of political affiliation.”We have had situations in the past where some states were left out because their governors did not belong to the ruling party,” the group said. “It is obvious that no state is left out [now].”The Infrastructure Support Fund was established in July 2023, shortly after Mr. Tinubu took office. It was designed to help regional governments cushion the economic shock following the controversial removal of a long-standing fuel subsidy, which had previously drained billions from the national treasury.