For the third straight year under Governor Uba Sani, Kaduna State has been crowned Nigeria’s most transparent state, beating all 36 states in the 2026 Transparency and Integrity Index.
The 2026 ranking, unveiled on September 28 in Abuja by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI), scored Kaduna at 54.68 per cent — ahead of the rest of the country.
“This is not just a win. It is a hat-trick. It is dominance. It is history repeating itself,” said Malam Sani Liman Kila, Chief of Staff to the Governor.
Kaduna first topped the index at its debut in 2021. It reclaimed the crown in 2024 with 51.42 per cent, retained it in 2025 with 49.08 per cent, and has now sealed a third consecutive victory in 2026 — making it four wins since the index began six years ago.
Reports showed that while Kaduna soared, the rest of the country lagged. Osun came a distant second with 50.54 per cent, Kwara third with 48.19 per cent, while Rivers, despite its oil wealth, managed only 37.97 per cent.
The verdict indicated that 33 states scored below 40 per cent and 15 states scored below 25 per cent. Bayelsa and Yobe both managed 14.86 per cent, while Niger State collapsed to the bottom with 10.86 per cent.
The gap between Kaduna at the top and Niger at the bottom is a staggering 43.82 percentage points.
The CeFTPI said it measured what the average citizen cannot see in most states: whether government publishes its budget, whether it discloses how much it budgeted for hospitals and roads and how much it actually spent, whether contracts are advertised, whether recruitment is open, and whether there is a system to fight corruption and listen to citizens.
Each state was scored on five pillars — Fiscal Transparency, Open Procurement, Human Resources and Inclusion, Control of Corruption, and Citizens Engagement — each carrying 20 per cent.
“For Governor Uba Sani, who inherited huge debts and a trust deficit, the third straight crown is a loud vindication,” said Hajiya Amina Mohammed of Kaduna Women for Good Governance (KW4GG).
From opening over 2.5 million new bank accounts for the poor, to repaying over N90 billion in debts without new borrowing, to pitching Kaduna at global investment stages, the message, according to analysts, is clear, transparency pays.
The 2026 Transparency and Integrity Index is the 6th edition of the annual assessment established by CeFTPI in 2021 to enforce proactive disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
And for the third year running, the crown sits in Kaduna.
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