By ABUBAKAR YUNUS
Kebbi State has emerged as one of Nigeria’s most transparent states in public finance management, ranking third out of the 36 states in the country on the 2025 States Fiscal Transparency League table released by civic-tech organisation, BudgIT.
According to a statement issued by the Kebbi State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning on Sunday, the state scored 98 per cent in the second quarter of 2025, placing behind only Ekiti and Gombe states while outperforming 33 other states.
The ministry said the achievement reflected a deliberate effort by the state government to institutionalise openness, accountability and timely disclosure of fiscal information.
The statement, titled “Kebbi Sets the Pace: How a State Ministry Turned Budget Transparency into a Governance Story,” noted that the ranking was not a one-off performance.
It explained that Kebbi consistently remained among a select group of states that achieved the highest transparency scores across subsequent quarters of 2025 as BudgIT strengthened its assessment criteria into 2026.
The ministry said, “Across subsequent quarters of 2025, Kebbi held its place among a small group of states that recorded the maximum possible transparency score as BudgIT tightened its criteria into 2026.”
According to the ministry, the state’s success was driven by the prompt publication of critical fiscal documents, including approved budgets, quarterly Budget Performance Reports and Citizens’ Budgets designed to simplify public understanding of government finances.
It added that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning had spent the last two fiscal years rebuilding the state’s approach to fiscal disclosure and public communication.
“The ranking is less a trophy than a data point confirming a deliberate strategy,” the statement said.
The ministry explained that BudgIT’s transparency index rewards states that publish budget implementation reports on time, maintain functional e-procurement disclosure systems and provide fiscal information through accessible and organised platforms.
It noted that Kebbi’s consistent performance demonstrated that transparency had become part of the ministry’s routine operations rather than a response to periodic assessments.
The statement also highlighted the state’s commitment to long-term fiscal planning through the development and implementation of the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
According to the ministry, the framework provides a multi-year fiscal roadmap that links annual budgets to future revenue and expenditure projections.
The ministry further pointed to the establishment of the Open Kebbi portal, an online platform designed to make budget and policy information easily accessible to citizens, journalists, researchers and civil society organisations.
It said the portal was created to ensure that transparency goes beyond document publication and translates into meaningful public access to government data.
The statement added that the ministry had sustained the momentum into 2026 by promptly publishing the approved 2026 budget, maintaining the timely release of quarterly Budget Performance Reports and commencing work on the 2027–2029 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
The ministry said fiscal transparency remained critical to strengthening public trust, attracting investment and enabling citizens to track government spending.
It added, “A Ministry decided that citizens should be able to see the budget, understand it and track whether it was implemented as promised, and then built the systems, the website and the reporting habits to make that true, quarter after quarter.”
The ministry expressed optimism that the state’s transparency reforms would continue to enhance accountability and support sustainable development in Kebbi.
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