Nigeria Has Made Verifiable Fiscal Progress, Group Tells US

The Renewed Hope Labourers Network (RHOLAN) has challenged the latest United States assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency, arguing that the report did not sufficiently recognise reforms and publicly available financial information introduced by the Nigerian government.

In a statement issued on Friday and signed by its Director General, John Ali Ude, the group said the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the United States Department of State should not be regarded as a complete reflection of Nigeria’s progress in public financial management.

According to Ireporter Online, the US report stated that Nigeria failed to meet the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency for the second consecutive year and recorded no significant improvement in financial management in 2025.

However, RHOLAN argued that the assessment placed insufficient emphasis on reforms already implemented to improve budget disclosure, financial controls and public access to government financial information.

The group acknowledged that Nigeria still has areas requiring improvement but maintained that describing the country as making no significant progress failed to capture the reforms and institutional measures undertaken to strengthen fiscal management.

Ude pointed to the continued use of digital public finance platforms, including the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System and the Open Treasury Portal, as evidence of efforts to improve transparency and accountability.

The group also noted that the US assessment recognised Nigeria’s publication of its enacted budget and end-of-year financial report online, alongside information concerning debt obligations and liabilities of major state-owned enterprises.

“The fact that the report acknowledges the publication of the enacted budget, end of year report and debt information demonstrates that there are functioning transparency mechanisms within the system,” RHOLAN said.

The organisation further highlighted Nigeria’s participation in the Open Government Partnership, which includes commitments relating to fiscal transparency, open budgeting, public procurement and citizen participation in the budget process.

Ude said Nigeria’s current action plan also places emphasis on improving fiscal transparency and strengthening the federal audit framework.

The group stressed that it was not claiming Nigeria had achieved complete fiscal transparency, acknowledging persistent challenges in areas such as procurement disclosure, audit effectiveness and the timely release of some financial documents.

“We are not arguing that Nigeria has achieved perfection in fiscal transparency. There are gaps that must be addressed, particularly around procurement disclosure, audit effectiveness and the timely publication of some fiscal documents,” Ude said.

He, however, maintained that such shortcomings should be considered alongside reforms and measurable progress already recorded.

RHOLAN also cited assessments of Nigeria’s broader fiscal governance reforms by the World Bank, noting reported improvements in areas including biometric verification of public workers, procurement processes and debt reporting.

The group urged the Federal Government to sustain efforts to improve budget implementation reporting, procurement disclosure and the effectiveness of audit institutions.

It also called on international organisations assessing Nigeria’s fiscal management to adopt transparent methodologies and base their conclusions on evidence that can be independently verified.