A report by BudgIT, a civic non-governmental organisation, has shown that Sokoto, Benue, Ogun, and Enugu states were the lowest-performing states on fiscal transparency in the second quarter of 2023.
Fiscal transparency refers to the publication of information on how governments raise, spend, and manage public resources.
The organisation ranked the 36 states on nine parameters expected to be available on the states’ website.
These parameters are Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Proposed and Approved Budget, Citizens’ Budget, Budget Implementation Reports (BIR), Audit Report, Accountant General’s Report/Financial Statement, eProcurement Portal and the State website with Fiscal Repository.
In 2020, N43.41 billion ($120.6 million) was disbursed to 24 states under the performance-based grant component of the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability Programme-for-Results.
The SFTAS programme aimed to strengthen the participating states’ fiscal transparency, accountability, and sustainability. After two years, the Federal Government said that the Central Bank had disbursed N471.9 billion from the $1.5 billion it got for the programme.
According to BudgIT ranking, Sokoto state, which scored 33rd on the table in the first quarter of 2023, moved to be the least-performing state in the second quarter. The state had not published MTEF, BIR, proposed budget, or citizens budget, nor did it have a functional e-procurement portal. Also, the state had a comprehensive but not timely approved budget, while the website had no documents available.
For Benue State, the e-procurement portal was not fully comprehensive but accessible. There’s no available information on its MTEF, proposed budget, or citizens’ budget, nor does it have a functional website.
Also, Ogun State fell significantly from 13th in Q1 to 34th in Q2. The state’s MTEF document and citizens’ budget were no longer available. The BIR and the approved budget were not fully comprehensive. Also, Ogun had no published information on its proposed budget, while the state’s website, which is its fiscal data repository, was down as of the period under review.
Similarly, Enugu State’s performance dropped from 14th to 33rd in the ranking as analysis showed that the state’s lack of accessibility to the MTEF, proposed budget and citizen’s budget was due to website unavailability.
However, the states with the highest ranking are Jigawa, Ondo, Osun and Oyo in the second quarter under review.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2023, Kano, Borno and Benue scored the lowest in transparency and accountability. The ICIR review on both quarters showed that Benue State had maintained a poor performance in six months. In Q1, the state scored 28 points, while 35 points in Q2.
The Acting Head of Open Government and Institutional Partnership, BudgIT, Iyanu Bolarinwa, told The ICIR that the report was published to know measures put in place by the states to ensure fiscal transparency and accountability following the conclusion of the SFTAS programme.
He said, “All of these indices we have pointed out in the table are to ensure that the information is available on time, and it gives us the opportunity always to put the state government on their toes and get them more transparent and accountable.”
ICIR