Sokoto Governor, Statistics And Good Governance

Once Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto concluded that one of the main reasons why annual budgets — at all levels of government — often fail to achieve their desired objectives, and why there is a litany of abandoned projects, is not merely due to funding but squarely because of the lack of statistics for planning, the next logical step was to expressly approve a statewide Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.

The survey focused on critical sectors like education, employment, healthcare, standard of living, and access to essential services — areas that would provide his administration with key insights into the root causes of poverty and inequality across the state.

Because many governments — both federal and subnational — often plan based on assumptions, the consequence is that year after year, resources are spent without meaningful progress. Policies not grounded in statistical data become ineffective. Without data, good governance is a mirage.

By taking the bull by the horns, Governor Sokoto hopes to statistically understand the root causes of deprivation at the household level, and how best to fundamentally address the social and economic challenges hindering the government’s determination to drastically improve the fortunes of the people of Sokoto State.

Between July 3rd and July 25th, 2025, the state government, in partnership with Redwire Marketing Consulting, successfully conducted the MPI Survey. The exercise not only aligns with Governor Sokoto’s 9-Point SMART Agenda — covering security, economic development, education, healthcare, and youth empowerment — but also complements national and global development priorities, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The logical question by Governor Sokoto which led to the survey was this: Can the Sokoto State Government effectively provide essential services to its people without reliable data? Once the governor began asking this question, Sokoto State firmly bid a long-overdue farewell to reliance on guesswork in policy formulation. With credible data in hand, the government can now tailor its budget to actual needs and move away from planning based on speculation — a practice that has historically undermined development.

Conducting a state-specific MPI Survey sets a reliable baseline, allows for the monitoring of changes over time, and justifies budgetary allocations through evidence-based planning.

It must be stressed that the fundamental purpose of the survey is for the state to take full ownership of its development future — by collecting and analyzing its own data, and using that evidence to shape sustainable, inclusive, and impactful policies.

In addition to enhancing governance and service delivery, the survey would provide essential demographic data — covering population growth, urbanization trends, and household dynamics. With such dependable statistics, the Sokoto State Government will be better positioned to anticipate future needs in education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, and social protection. The data will also strengthen the annual budgeting process and improve the equity of resource allocation. Another major advantage of the internal survey is that it will enable faster and more precise decision-making, tailored to Sokoto’s specific conditions, challenges, and opportunities.

The decision to undertake this data-driven initiative underscores Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s resolve to tackle the root causes of underdevelopment head-on. For decades, poor or non-existent data has denied citizens access to quality public services. Governor Sokoto has turned that tide.

Encouragingly, the survey adhered to international best practices, using the globally accepted Alkire-Foster method for multidimensional poverty measurement. This methodology ensures that the data is both credible and comparable, enabling Sokoto to benchmark itself against other Nigerian states.

The use of mobile data collection tools and real-time dashboards will also ensure accuracy, as it allows for efficient supervision of field enumerators. This digital transformation of data collection by Sokoto State has set a new standard for how government statistics should be gathered in Nigeria.

The survey is part of a broader reform agenda being championed by Governor Sokoto and executed by Dr. Abubakar Mohammed Zayyana, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning. To achieve the survey’s objectives, the State Bureau of Statistics has been repositioned to “deliver timely, relevant, and actionable statistics — such as those expected from the MPI Survey — to guide inclusive policy development and socio-economic interventions.” Recently, Abdullahi Abdulrahman Shagari, a renowned statistician, was appointed as the State Statistician-General for the Sokoto State Board of Statistics.

The ultimate goal of the survey is to improve the lives of Sokoto State’s residents by setting measurable development targets, and aligning the efforts of ministries, development partners, civil society, and the private sector around a shared understanding of the needs and priorities of the people — the true purpose of government.

More broadly, the goal is to institutionalize data as the foundation of targeted, inclusive, and evidence-based public policy — a framework that ensures no one is left behind.

For instance, the survey will aid the governor — who aspires to make Sokoto Nigeria’s leading investment destination and food basket — in identifying where and how to make the required agricultural investments. For Governor Sokoto, agriculture is key, because it has the potential to create jobs, ensure food security, and supply raw materials to agro-processing industries.

With reliable data, the government can assess agriculture’s contribution to GDP, measure workforce involvement in the sector, and attract investment across the value chain. The state will also be able to improve access to land and financing and facilitate the growth of agro-industrial hubs.

In education — another top priority — the survey will allow the government to assess school infrastructure, enrollment trends, and teacher distribution. The findings will support efforts to ensure every child receives a 21st-century education that prepares them for the knowledge economy.

Without the survey, Governor Sokoto would lack the empirical basis to evaluate the effectiveness of his policies, or to identify and address implementation challenges. This is the power of statistics — as Stephen Senn put it, statistics tell you “what you have done wrongly or how you could have done it better.”

Through this initiative, Governor Sokoto is institutionalizing the role of data in planning, budgeting, and accountability — and for that, he deserves a special commendation. But statistics alone are not the end. What ultimately matters most is sustained commitment to service delivery and the political will to act on the findings — both of which Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has in abundance.

Postscript

With this milestone, Sokoto State joins the ranks of progressive states like Kaduna, which are waging a sustained war on the lack of reliable data for planning.