The Federal Government’s settlement of over N2 trillion in outstanding capital budget arrears from the 2024 fiscal year is a commendable step towards strengthening fiscal responsibility. Equally significant is the recent report by BudgIT, which revealed that States’ fiscal surplus has skyrocketed from N2.8 trillion in 2023 to N7.1 trillion.

This increase provides subnationals with unprecedented fiscal space to drive investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and job creation. But the big question remains: Why is Nigeria still grappling with pervasive poverty, dilapidated schools, collapsing hospitals, and poor infrastructure despite this fiscal windfall?

The answer lies in mismanagement, corruption, and reckless spending at the state level. State governors, particularly in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, preside over some of the least developed states in Nigeria, despite controlling enormous resources. Billions in federal allocations and internally generated revenue (IGR) are routinely wasted on white-elephant projects, bloated security votes, and political patronage rather than productive investments.

Adding insult to injury, state governors have waged a relentless war against local government autonomy, despite a Supreme Court judgment affirming its necessity. Instead of empowering grassroots governance, governors hijack council funds through state joint accounts, leaving local governments incapacitated, unable to deliver basic services such as primary education, rural healthcare, and feeder roads. This deliberate emasculation of local authorities has deepened poverty, widened inequality, and stifled rural development.

The Niger Delta provides a tragic case study. Despite being the economic lifeblood of the country producing the oil that funds Nigeria’s budget, its people live in environmental degradation, unemployment, and infrastructural decay. Instead of channeling oil revenues into sustainable development, successive governors have enriched political elites while their citizens wallow in poverty.

This is not merely bad governance, it is wickedness. It is the betrayal of public trust. With over N7.1 trillion in state fiscal surpluses now on the table, Nigerians must demand accountability like never before. The people must rise above apathy and confront the entrenched system of waste, corruption, and financial impunity.

Civil society, the media, professional bodies, and ordinary citizens must insist that these funds are invested in roads, hospitals, schools, technology, and industries that will uplift millions from poverty. It is time to hold governors accountable not just at the ballot box but through sustained advocacy, public pressure, and legal actions.

Nigeria cannot develop if states remain breeding grounds of corruption and mediocrity. The fiscal surpluses of today must not become the squandered opportunities of tomorrow. For the Niger Delta and the entire federation, the call is clear: governors must be servants of the people, not lords of waste.