Follow Us on Google
Nigeria failed to meet the United States government’s minimum fiscal transparency requirements in 2025, according to the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the US Department of State.
The report assessed Nigeria and 138 other governments, as well as the Palestinian Authority, based on their fiscal transparency during the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.
Nigeria was among 67 governments classified as failing to meet the minimum requirements.
The country was also listed among governments that made “no significant progress” towards addressing the deficiencies identified during the review period.
The US assessment focuses on whether governments make essential fiscal information available to the public, including budget documents, debt obligations, audit reports, natural resource contracts and public procurement information.
The Department of State said fiscal transparency is important for effective public financial management, market confidence and economic sustainability, while also strengthening accountability and enabling citizens to scrutinise government spending.
The report said governments are expected to make executive budget proposals, enacted budgets and end-of-year reports widely and easily accessible within specified periods.
It also requires governments to publicly disclose information on their debt obligations, including debts linked to major state-owned enterprises, through public-facing websites updated at least annually.
On the completeness of budget information, the US said publicly available documents should provide a substantially full picture of planned government revenue and expenditure, including revenue from natural resources.
The assessment further requires expenditure to be broken down by ministry and revenue by source and type, alongside information on allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises.
The US also assessed the reliability of government budget information, stating that actual revenues and expenditures should correspond with the enacted budget and that significant deviations should be explained and publicly disclosed.
The report examined the independence and effectiveness of supreme audit institutions, including their capacity to audit annual government financial statements and publish their findings.
For countries with significant natural resource extraction activities, the assessment also considers whether the criteria and procedures for awarding extraction contracts and licences are publicly available and backed by law or regulation.
The US, however, cautioned that failing the fiscal transparency assessment should not be interpreted as a ranking of corruption.
It said failure to meet the minimum requirements does not necessarily mean a government has significant corruption, just as meeting the requirements does not necessarily indicate a low level of corruption.
Of the 140 governments assessed, 73 met the minimum fiscal transparency requirements, while 67 failed to meet them.
The report said 14 of the governments that failed the requirements had nevertheless made significant progress.
The 2026 assessment also introduced stronger criteria requiring governments to publicly disclose the terms and conditions of sovereign loans made to foreign borrowers, including liabilities and collateralised assets.
