By Nine Nigerian states achieved a perfect fiscal transparency score in the first quarter of 2026, marking a more than fourfold increase from the same period a year earlier, according to the latest States Fiscal Transparency League (SFTL) ranking released by civic-tech organisation BudgIT.
Adamawa, Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kaduna, Ogun and Ondo each scored the maximum 73 out of 73 points, representing a perfect 100% score in BudgIT’s Q1 2026 assessment.
The quarterly assessment evaluates how well Nigeria’s 36 states publish key fiscal documents, including proposed and approved budgets, quarterly Budget Implementation Reports (BIRs), functional e-procurement portals and fiscal data repositories on their official websites.
Perfect Scores Rise From Two to Nine
BudgIT’s report shows that only two states, representing 5.6% of the federation, attained a perfect score in Q1 2025. By Q1 2026, that number had increased to nine states, accounting for one-quarter of Nigeria’s 36 states.
According to BudgIT, the improvement suggests that subnational fiscal transparency, initially strengthened through external incentives, is increasingly being sustained independently by state governments.
The SFTL initiative builds on the World Bank’s State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme, a four-year, $1.5 billion performance-based grant scheme implemented between 2018 and 2022. The programme rewarded states for improving budgeting and procurement transparency.
In its December 2025 review of the SFTAS programme, World Bank Country Director Mathew Verghis stated that the initiative demonstrated that “incremental progress in fiscal governance is possible” even under difficult fiscal conditions.
BudgIT launched the States Fiscal Transparency League to monitor whether states would continue publishing fiscal information after the expiration of the World Bank-funded programme. The Q1 2026 results indicate that a growing number of states have continued the practice without the programme’s financial incentives.
Changes Among Top-Performing States
Although nine states attained perfect scores in Q1 2026, the composition of the list changed from the previous quarter.
BudgIT reported that six states, Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa and Kaduna, also achieved perfect scores in Q4 2025.
Three states, Adamawa, Ogun and Ondo, joined the list of perfect performers in Q1 2026, while Gombe, Kebbi and Osun, which had recorded perfect scores in Q4 2025, dropped from the top category.
According to the report, Gombe’s score declined to 54 out of 73 points (74%), primarily due to the absence of a proposed budget publication and the non-disclosure of 2026 contract awards on its e-procurement portal.
Kebbi recorded 67 out of 73 points (92%), losing points solely on procurement disclosure.
Osun scored 57 out of 73 points (78%) after failing to publish its Budget Implementation Report during the quarter. BudgIT noted that the omission resulted in the loss of all 16 points allocated to that indicator.
Despite the changes, BudgIT described the overall trend as encouraging, noting that six of the nine states that achieved perfect scores in Q1 2026 had also done so in the previous quarter, suggesting that improvements are becoming “more consistent rather than episodic.”
The report, however, observed that a perfect score remains dependent on continued compliance, with a single missing fiscal document capable of significantly reducing a state’s rating.
Requirements for a Perfect Score
BudgIT’s assessment uses a 73-point methodology covering five key indicators.
States are evaluated on the publication of their proposed budget, worth 13 points, including timeliness, accessibility, and spending breakdowns; an approved budget, worth 21 points; a quarterly Budget Implementation Report published within the 30-day timeline prescribed by Nigeria’s Fiscal Responsibility Act, worth 16 points; a functional e-procurement portal disclosing beneficial ownership and contracting entities, worth 11 points; and a navigable, compartmentalised fiscal data repository on the state’s official website, worth 12 points.
Kaduna remained one of only two states to sustain a perfect score across both Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 through consistent institutional practice.
Coverage of BudgIT’s Q4 2025 assessment credited the state, under Governor Uba Sani, with publishing comprehensive Budget Implementation Reports within the statutory timeframe and maintaining an accessible procurement platform.
Wider Performance Across States
The nine states with perfect scores were followed by Edo, which recorded 71 out of 73 points (97%), narrowly missing full marks due to procurement and proposed budget completeness.
BudgIT’s table also shows that 11 states scored 67 out of 73 points (92%), with most losing points because of missing procurement disclosures for 2026.
At the bottom of the ranking, Rivers State recorded zero points. According to BudgIT, Rivers was the only state that failed to publish a Budget Implementation Report throughout all four quarters of 2025 and again in Q1 2026.
BudgIT urged state governments to institutionalise quarterly fiscal disclosure as a routine administrative practice rather than treating it as an obligation linked to grant funding.
The organisation said the performance of the current leading states demonstrates that sustained fiscal transparency is achievable without external financial incentives, adding that subsequent quarterly assessments will show whether newly ranked states can maintain their performance and whether previously top-performing states regain their positions.
