One of the earliest push backs we received at BudgIT was about our relentless focus on the Federal Government of Nigeria. Many people urged us to turn our attention to state governments, which, as they rightly argued, were “getting away with murder” in their management of public resources without accountability. That criticism spurred a wave of innovation, including the creation of the State of States Report — a fiscal sustainability index that evaluates the financial health of Nigeria’s subnational governments. With the recent surge in funding for states, which has reached over NGN12 trillion in the federal transfers for 2025, our intense focus has been justified.
As Nigeria’s states receive unprecedented federal transfers, the question of how openly they manage public resources has never been more critical. A decade after BudgIT’s first State of States Report, the push for fiscal transparency faces new tests — and new opportunities.
At the outset, we faced a significant challenge: at the time, only five out of 36 states publicly released their budgets. In fact, one of our consultants, now working in the presidency, was detained in Asaba simply for requesting a state budget. This raised a pressing question for us: how could we get more states to embrace transparency? We began by calling them out on social media, ranking states from least to most transparent. But this strategy alone wasn’t enough to spark real change. The breakthrough came with the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) program, a World Bank initiative that offered grants to state governments based on specific transparency and accountability metrics. This project turbocharged our efforts — disbursing over $700 million to states and incentivising them to open up their finances. The results were remarkable: the number of states publishing their budgets jumped from 13 to all 36, and governors began pressuring their commissioners to ensure they didn’t miss out on the next tranche of World Bank largesse.
But when the multi-million SFTAS program ended, a critical question emerged: what’s next? Would states return to the ironcast opacity where access to state fiscal documents was seen as a luxury? This is where BudgIT stepped in again, launching the States Fiscal Transparency League Table. This quarterly ranking system evaluates states based on the timely and comprehensive publication of key fiscal documents, including the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, proposed and approved budgets, procurement records, and audited financial statements. For the past two years, BudgIT has maintained a strong focus on subnational fiscal transparency, ensuring states remain accountable and responsive.
Since 2023, BudgIT has released a transparency performance report every quarter, and the Q2 2025 edition offers revealing insights. States such as Ekiti, Gombe, Kebbi, Ebonyi, and Osun continue to lead on the transparency portal. Across the board, more states are sharing crucial documents — 28 states have published their Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, 34 have released detailed budgets, 33 have published citizen budgets, 33 have kept their quarterly budgets updated, 34 have released quarterly Accountant-General reports for 2024, and 32 have maintained websites with detailed fiscal information. However, only five states have published their updated procurement records, a troubling gap that highlights a persistent weakness in subnational transparency. Procurement data often fails to align with market realities, and repeated media reports suggest many states are deliberately withholding this information.
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Another challenge is the limited use of the data now available. While BudgIT curates and publishes these reports on its Open States (www.openstates.ng) portal, the question remains: how many citizens are actively engaging with these documents? We recognise that while states may be motivated to release data under the watchful eyes of multilateral institutions, citizens themselves must be at the forefront of demanding and using this information. To bridge this gap, BudgIT is launching the State Fiscal Fellows Program. This volunteer initiative will train and support state-level teams to analyse fiscal data, interpret budgets, and generate actionable insights. These fellows will deepen public understanding of state finances and help drive data-informed advocacy in their respective states, thereby fully decentralising the impact of BudgIT’s work.
On October 28, 2025, BudgIT will mark a significant milestone — the 10th anniversary of the State of States Report — in Abuja. What began as a response to public calls for greater focus on subnational governance has evolved into a flagship initiative that shapes how fiscal transparency is understood and practised across Nigeria’s 36 states. Over the past decade, the State of States Report has evolved from a bold experiment into a powerful accountability tool, highlighting disparities in state-level fiscal performance, deepening public understanding of subnational finances, and driving reforms that make governance more transparent and participatory.
This anniversary is not just a celebration of the past ten years; it is also a moment to reflect on how far Nigeria has come in opening up its state-level budgets and to chart a bold vision for the decade ahead. From a time when only five states published their budgets — and even simple budget requests could lead to intimidation — to a present where all 36 states now release key fiscal documents, the journey has been remarkable. Yet the work is far from done. Persistent gaps, such as the poor publication of procurement records and limited citizen use of available fiscal data, remind us that transparency must extend beyond disclosure to include meaningful public engagement and accountability.
Yet the real test of Nigeria’s transparency journey lies ahead. The conclusion of donor-supported programs such as SFTAS has removed the financial incentives that once compelled many states to publish their fiscal data. Without sustained citizen vigilance and institutional enforcement, there is a real danger that subnational governments could slide back into opacity — quietly reversing the gains of the past decade. Transparency must therefore evolve from being a compliance exercise tied to external funding, to becoming a self-sustaining governance culture rooted in local accountability and political will.
Fiscal transparency directly shapes how efficiently funds are used and how much trust citizens and investors place in government. Open budgets allow communities to track projects, reduce leakages, and guide spending priorities. For businesses, access to reliable fiscal data builds confidence; for citizens, it strengthens democracy and accountability.
The truth is simple: state finances matter, and they must be scrutinised from an informed perspective. BudgIT is committed to leading this charge — ensuring that transparency is not just achieved but actively used to strengthen accountability and improve governance across Nigeria’s states.
Oluseun Onigbinde is the co-founder and Global Director of BudgIT.
