Nigeria has made significant progress in improving transparency in public finance over the years. The government now publishes annual budget proposals and approved budgets, while platforms such as the Open Treasury Portal, GIFMIS, IPPIS and the Nigeria Open Contracting Portal have made it easier for citizens to access information on government spending, payroll and procurement.
These reforms, together with laws such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the Public Procurement Act and the Freedom of Information Act, were introduced to promote fiscal discipline, transparency and better management of public resources.
However, Nigeria’s 2026 federal budget shows that making financial information available does not automatically lead to accountability or better public spending.
Citizens today have access to more government financial information than ever before, yet questionable budget allocations, poor coordination between government institutions and weak spending decisions continue to appear in the national budget.
One example is the allocation of more than N6.44 billion to a Special Presidential Support Group for activities connected to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Nigeria did not qualify for the World Cup, and the qualifying campaign had already ended months before the budget was signed into law.
The National Sports Commission later explained that the provision represented unfunded commitments carried over from an earlier budget and that a corrigendum process was used to redirect the funds to other sporting activities. Regardless of the explanation, the situation raised questions about the quality of budget preparation and legislative oversight.
There have also been concerns about allocations to government institutions for projects that appear unrelated to their main responsibilities. One example is the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, which was allocated N8.4 billion for road construction, according to an analysis by BudgIT.
Such allocations highlight broader concerns about overlapping responsibilities among ministries, departments and agencies. They also point to weaknesses in government planning and the prioritisation of public expenditure. When responsibilities are duplicated or poorly defined, it becomes harder to determine which institution should be held accountable for the use of public funds.
Another concern in the 2026 budget was an allocation of about N1.30 billion to an agency described as the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council. The Presidency has since described the agency as fake or non-existent.
The problem is not limited to the executive. The National Assembly inserted more than 11,000 constituency projects worth over N6.9 trillion into the 2025 Appropriation Act. Many of these projects were reportedly added outside normal planning processes, raising concerns about strategic resource allocation and effective oversight.
At the same time, the government continues to face problems with the implementation of capital projects, delays in publishing audited public accounts and weaknesses in Nigeria’s audit system.
These examples demonstrate that simply publishing budget information is not enough. Transparency only becomes meaningful when citizens, legislators, auditors and other institutions can use that information to question decisions, identify problems and demand corrective action.
Nigeria’s experience is similar to what has happened in many emerging democracies. Governments have introduced open-budget initiatives, digital financial systems and procurement reforms, but improvements in transparency have often moved faster than improvements in accountability.
Weak oversight institutions, political interference, corruption, limited enforcement of audit recommendations and inadequate citizen participation continue to prevent transparency reforms from producing the desired results.
As a result, citizens may have access to government spending information while still experiencing poor infrastructure, inadequate healthcare and education services and declining confidence in public institutions.
For transparency reforms to have a real impact, they must be supported by strong accountability institutions, independent audit systems, effective legislative oversight, active civic participation and credible punishment for the misuse of public funds.
The executive also needs to improve fiscal discipline by using realistic economic assumptions, complying with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, eliminating spending outside the approved budget and publishing budget implementation reports on time.
With limited government resources, capital spending should be focused on areas capable of producing the greatest impact, including infrastructure, healthcare, education, agriculture and the digital economy. Government should also prioritise completing ongoing projects before starting new ones.
Procurement systems must be strengthened, project costs should be realistic, and politically motivated additions to the budget should be discouraged. These measures would help ensure that government obtains better value from every naira it spends.
Ministries, departments and agencies also need stronger technical capacity in areas such as planning, project management, monitoring, evaluation and data analysis. Adopting results-based budgeting and digital financial management systems could help improve implementation and ensure that public spending produces measurable results.
The National Assembly also has an important role to play. Its oversight responsibilities should focus on promoting fiscal discipline, reducing unnecessary constituency projects and ensuring that budget changes are properly justified and aligned with national priorities.
The media, civil society organisations and ordinary citizens also have a role in improving public financial management. Journalists can use government data to investigate spending, procurement and project implementation, while civic technology platforms can make complicated budget information easier for citizens to understand.
Citizens and civil society groups should also participate more actively in budget consultations, legislative hearings and advocacy efforts. Public spending is ultimately meant to serve citizens, so they should have a voice in determining how government resources are allocated.
Nigeria has made progress in making government financial information more accessible. The next challenge is ensuring that this information leads to real accountability.
Transparency should not simply mean that citizens can see where public money is going. It should also mean that institutions and individuals responsible for managing those resources can be questioned, held accountable and sanctioned when necessary.
Only by connecting transparency with strong institutions, effective oversight and meaningful public participation can Nigeria’s budget reforms translate into better public services, greater public trust and improved economic outcomes.
