ECONOMISTS SUPPORT US POSITION, CRITICISE NIGERIA’S FISCAL TRANSPARENCY
Read Time:4 Minute, 9 Second
By:Tajudeen Aminat
Economists have endorsed the United States’ assessment that Nigeria failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency standards, warning that weak budget implementation, inadequate disclosure of public finances and ineffective auditing could undermine investor confidence and economic growth.
Their reaction followed the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the US Department of State, which placed Nigeria among 67 governments that did not meet the minimum requirements during the review period of January 1 to December 31, 2025.
The report, published on August 11, stated that Nigeria made no significant progress in addressing the fiscal transparency deficiencies identified by the US.
Among the shortcomings highlighted were the failure to publish the executive budget proposal within a reasonable timeframe, incomplete budget information, discrepancies between approved and actual revenues and expenditures, inadequate independence of the country’s supreme audit institution and limited public access to procurement contract information.
The US report noted that although Nigeria made its enacted budget and end-of-year report publicly accessible, it did not provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures.
It also found that actual revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond with those contained in the enacted budget.
On auditing, the report said Nigeria’s supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and had not published substantive reports, despite having access to the entire executed budget.
The assessment, however, acknowledged some positive developments, including the public availability of information on government debt obligations, a sound legal framework for the sovereign wealth fund and regulations governing the award of natural resource extraction contracts and licences.
Director of the Lagos Business School Public Sector Initiative, Prof. Franklin Ngwu, said the report reflected longstanding concerns over Nigeria’s budget and financial management.
He questioned the continued extension and rollover of budgets, saying the situation had created uncertainty around the country’s fiscal management.
“This is 2026. I’m not even sure of the budget we are using currently in Nigeria. Are we using 2024? Are we using 2025? Are we using 2026? Nobody is sure,” Ngwu said.
He warned that the situation could damage Nigeria’s reputation among foreign investors and discourage foreign direct investment.
“As long as we are not doing well in this area with this recent development, foreign investors, people that want to invest in Nigeria, will be cautious. Non-portfolio investors will be cautious,” he said.
Ngwu called for urgent reforms in the country’s fiscal management, urging the Federal Government to give greater attention to the issue.
Similarly, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Uyo, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, described the US assessment as fair, arguing that Nigeria’s fiscal challenges were already evident domestically.
“The report is fair. We don’t even need US support. Even within Nigeria, we know that there’s a problem with the fiscal side,” Ekpo said.
He called for greater transparency in government borrowing, procurement, revenue and expenditure, while advocating stronger scrutiny of the budget process.
Chief Executive Officer of Economic Associates, Dr Ayo Teriba, also criticised Nigeria’s fiscal reporting system, particularly the lack of regular updates on budget performance.
“We only announce budgets. We never come back to say, yeah, the budget we announced last year. We never release any report,” Teriba said.
He urged the government to publish year-to-date budget performance before presenting new budget proposals, arguing that such information would enable citizens and investors to assess the performance of previous appropriations.
However, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the Federal Government deserved credit for making detailed budget documents publicly available, although he acknowledged that implementation remained a major challenge.
“The Nigerian government budget is one of the most detailed, and it’s in the public space,” Yusuf said.
He, however, agreed that reforms were needed to address existing gaps in fiscal transparency.
The US Department of State recommended that Nigeria publish its executive budget proposal widely and make it easily accessible to the public, including online.
It also urged the government to provide a more complete breakdown of revenues and expenditures, ensure actual budget performance corresponds with approved figures, strengthen the independence of the supreme audit institution and publish substantive audit reports.
The US further called for greater transparency in public procurement by making information on government contracts accessible to the public.
The report stressed that fiscal transparency is important for effective public financial management, investor confidence and economic sustainability.
It also clarified that failing to meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements does not, by itself, constitute a finding of significant corruption.
Overall, the assessment presents a mixed picture of Nigeria’s fiscal management. While the country has made some public financial information available, the US said significant gaps remain in budget completeness, implementation, auditing and procurement transparency.
Economists therefore urged the Federal Government to strengthen fiscal reporting, improve budget implementation and ensure greater accountability in the management of public resources.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0