Report Rebukes States for Hoarding Critical Budget Information from Public Scrutiny

James Emejo and Aisha Yakubu in Abuja

A new report has berated some state governments over their inconsistency in fiscal transparency.

According to the 2022 Nigerian States Budget Transparency Survey (SNBTS) which was launched by the Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), although there had been marked improvement in the publication of budget documents by states in recent times, a new data showed “inconsistency as some states stopped publishing some documents that had previously been published.”

The report also gave a low mark to the sub-national governments over their individual performance in the oversight of the 2022 budget.

The SNBTS disclosed that only eight states including Jigawa, Edo, Adamawa, Kano, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Kogi and Yobe – could be considered as “adequately transparent” by disclosing enough budget information, adding that “No state provided extensive information” in the period under review.

CIRDDOC lamented that, “This is a far cry from the 2020 survey where Jigawa, Ondo, and Kano provided extensive information, scoring above 80 per cent. The average transparency score in 2022 was lower than that recorded in all prior surveys which implies that the progress gained in budget openness since 2015 regressed in 2022.

“This indicates that although these states still scored above the 60 per cent threshold, their scores declined from their 2020 scores. Expectedly, the data shows a lack of consistency as many states stopped publishing some documents that they had published in the previous year. The performance of the state in terms of progress is mixed.”

The study also revealed that most states did not provide significant space for the public in the budget process as the average score on the public participation index for all states was 28.42 per cent in 2022, representing a three per cent improvement from 2020.

According to the report, in the budget oversight assessment, only eight states namely, Ondo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Yobe, Delta, Bayelsa, Ogun and Anambra scored above 60 per cent, indicating that the states had adequate or strong oversight.

Also, 10 states including Kano, Edo, Benue, Osun, Ekiti, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, and Imo scored between 41 per cent and 60 per cent – showing limited strength in budget oversight.

The remaining 18 states scored between 12 per cent and 40 per cent which indicated a weak budget oversight.

However, the survey noted that in terms of the regulatory framework, 26 states currently have some form of provisions in their budget regulatory framework that requires the executive to involve the wider public in either the budget formulation or the budget execution processes.

It stated that public disclosure in the procurement process in the states showed that on average, the amount of public disclosure in the state’s procurement process increased from 40 per cent in 2020 to 59 per cent in 2022.

The report attributed the slight improvement to production and public accessibility of the Citizens’ Budget by 33 states.

The report stressed that budget oversight aims at ensuring that the executive and its agents in charge of budget formulation and execution are accountable and responsive.

It pointed out that the standard practice was for a member of the opposition political party to head the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as this helps to neutralise the effect of any compromise should a member of the ruling political party head the committee.

Speaking at the launch of the report in Abuja, Executive Director, CIRDDOC Nigeria, Mrs. Ral Nwankwo-Obioha, said the overall objective of the survey was to instill transparency in budgeting and budget process across the 36 states of the federation by focusing on five key indicators, namely public availability of budget information, public participation in the budget process, the strength of the oversight institutions, public availability of procurement information.

She said, “As we all know, budget transparency entails all citizens accessing information on how much is allocated to different types of spending, what revenues are collected, and how international donor assistance and other public resources are used.

“Access means they’ll be better positioned to participate in the hearings, contribute to how the country’s resources are used, and hold the government accountable. Transparency is an important first step to holding governments accountable for how they use the people’s resources.”