U.S. Fiscal Transparency Report Rates Nigeria Poorly on Budget Openness

Nigeria made no significant progress in meeting minimum fiscal transparency standards in 2025, according to a report released by the United States Department of State.

The report said the Nigerian government made key budget documents widely and easily accessible to the public, including online, and provided a substantially complete picture of planned expenditure and revenue.

It also acknowledged that the government published information on debt obligations, including major state-owned enterprise debt. However, the report said the available information lacked sufficient detail on actual expenditure and budget execution.

According to the report, Nigeria’s supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not publish substantive audit reports, although it had access to the entire executed budget.

The report also cited Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund, noting that it has a sound legal framework that discloses its source of funding and outlines the general approach to withdrawals. It said the framework covers key areas, including criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses.

However, the report faulted the government for failing to publish accessible information on public procurement contracts.

Recommendations for Improving Fiscal Transparency

To improve fiscal transparency, the report recommended that Nigeria ensure its supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and publishes audit reports on the government’s executed budget.

It also urged the government to publish accessible information on public procurement contracts.

The report further called for improved public disclosure of key budget documents, including expenditures broken down by ministry and revenues broken down by source and type.

It said governments should ensure audit institutions have adequate access to annual financial statements, publish audit findings, and make laws and regulations on natural resource contracting and licensing publicly available. The report also called for public access to natural resource extraction contracts and public procurement contracts.

Assessment Criteria

The U.S. Department of State uses several indicators to assess whether governments meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements.

These include the public availability of budget information, including end-of-year reports.
They also include publication of information on government debt obligations, including those of state-owned enterprises, on a public-facing website that is updated at least annually.

Another criterion is the disclosure of funding sources and withdrawals from sovereign wealth funds.

The report said a published budget that excludes significant cash or non-cash resources, including foreign aid, would not be considered substantially complete. It added that budget documents should incorporate all special accounts or funds, while legitimate off-budget accounts should be audited, made public and subject to oversight.

It said financial statements should be prepared in line with internationally accepted principles that produce consistent and comparable statements. The supreme audit institution, it added, should meet international standards of independence, audit the executed budget and verify annual financial statements.

For countries with significant natural resource extraction sectors, the report said the criteria and procedures for contracting and licensing should be transparent, publicly available and codified in law or regulation.