4
Inherited problems
2
Fixed
1
Partial progress
Fixed
Partial progress
Broken
The problem
El-Rufai took office inheriting a long-running cycle of communal, ethnic, and farmer-herder violence in southern Kaduna that predated his administration by years.
What was done
The violence continued through both of his terms; he characterised it publicly as a cycle of attacks and reprisals rather than a problem his administration resolved.
Partial
The problem
The Zaria water works had sat abandoned for roughly 30 years before contractors returned to the site under El-Rufai.
What was done
A ₦24bn AfDB/IsDB-funded expansion project was commissioned in 2019, but was reported to be near collapse again by the end of his tenure.
Fixed
The problem
El-Rufai's administration described the civil service it inherited as oversized and inefficient relative to the state's revenue base.
What was done
A public service reform and revitalisation programme launched in 2016 led to large-scale downsizing through 2017-2021, which the administration presented as fixing the structural cost problem, though the manner of the layoffs was widely contested.
Fixed
The problem
Kaduna's IGR stood at roughly ₦11.5 billion in 2015, leaving the state heavily dependent on federal allocations.
What was done
IGR grew more than fivefold over his two terms to roughly ₦58 billion by 2023.