The Presidency has responded to a United States assessment that Nigeria failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements, saying the findings should be viewed as an external benchmark rather than a complete assessment of the country’s fiscal governance.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media, Sunday Dare, said the Federal Government remains committed to strengthening fiscal transparency, accountability and public financial management.
His response followed the release of the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report by the US Department of State, which classified Nigeria among 67 governments that failed to meet the minimum requirements during the 2025 review period.
The report identified weaknesses in Nigeria’s budget disclosure, revenue and expenditure reporting, audit independence and public procurement transparency, while also acknowledging progress in the public availability of budget documents and debt obligations.
Dare said the government takes the findings seriously but argued that the assessment should be properly contextualised.
“Fiscal transparency, accountability and effective public financial management remain important priorities of the Federal Government, and Nigeria continues to implement reforms aimed at strengthening the management, reporting and disclosure of public resources.”
“The U.S. Fiscal Transparency Report is a specific assessment against the Department of State’s minimum fiscal-transparency requirements, particularly the public disclosure of national budget information, government contracts and natural-resource licenses.”
“It should therefore not be interpreted as a comprehensive assessment of all fiscal and public financial management reforms currently underway in Nigeria.”
“The appropriate response, therefore, is neither to dismiss the findings nor to portray them as a complete characterization of Nigeria’s fiscal governance.”
Dare said the government has established mechanisms including the Open Treasury initiative, public budget documentation, debt disclosures and reforms to public procurement, while also strengthening digital procurement and other systems designed to improve the accessibility, reliability and timeliness of public financial information.
In its 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released on Thursday, the US Department of State said Nigeria made no significant progress in addressing the deficiencies identified during the review period.
Nigeria made its enacted budget and end-of-year report widely and easily accessible to the public, including online, but did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period.
Information on government debt obligations, including major state-owned enterprise debt, was publicly available, but budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures.
Actual government revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond to those contained in the enacted budget.
The Supreme Audit Institution did not meet international standards of independence or publish substantive reports, although it had access to the entire executed budget.
The assessment covered January 1 to December 31, 2025, and evaluated 140 governments, including the Palestinian Authority. While 73 met the minimum fiscal transparency requirements, 67 did not, with Nigeria among those that failed.
The department said fiscal transparency supports effective public financial management, market confidence and economic sustainability, while also strengthening government accountability and supporting better public debate.
The latest assessment comes after concerns raised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over Nigeria’s fiscal reporting and financing arrangements.
In July, the IMF said Nigeria failed to record public spending equivalent to about two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent official budgets, creating a gap between the reported fiscal deficit and actual financing needs.
The Fund said the discrepancy was partly linked to large government projects executed off-budget, which distort assessments of Nigeria’s fiscal position and public investment levels.
The IMF also cautioned Nigeria over its plan to raise up to $5 billion through a derivatives-based financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank, warning that such transactions can be complex and lack transparency.
