By Mashe Umaru Gwamna
The World Bank-assisted HOPE Governance Program has trained 388 officials from the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory to strengthen the capacity of state institutions to align their Annual Operational Plans for Primary Healthcare and Annual Consolidated Workplans for Basic Education with their respective budgets.
The month-long capacity-building workshop was also to enhance the practical application of the National Chart of Accounts and programme-based budgetting in the Basic Education and Primary Health Care Sectors.
This was contained in a statement signed and issued by Communications Officer
HOPE-GOV Programme, Joe Mutah.
The training supported states to prioritise cost, map and geo-tagging of projects and reconcile their sector Workplans with available budget ceilings.
Similarly, it also identified and addressed State-specific planning and budgeting gaps through practical, hands-on exercises using actual state documents.
State officials who participated in the capacity-building workshop are: State Permanent Secretaries of Budget and Planning, Executive Chairmen of State Universal Basic Education Boards, Executive Secretaries of State Primary Health Care Development Agencies, FCT Health and Environment Secretariat, State Directors of Budget, Desk Officers of the Sector-Wide Approach Coordination Office across the states and the HOPE-Governance Programme Focal Persons in the states and the FCT.
The four-batch capacity building workshop, will conclude on Wednesday 4th November 2026. The National Coordinator, Dr. Assad Hassan stated in Abuja on Monday that the event was timed to match ongoing 2027 states budget preparations.
According to Dr. Assad, the strategic timing is to ensure states budgets properly align with the National Chart of Accounts based on the Programme’s Disbursement-Linked Indicator 2.
“This workshop is designed to strengthen the capacity of State institutions to align their Annual Operational Plans for Primary Healthcare and Annual Consolidated Workplans for Basic Education with their respective budgets.
“Achieving the objectives of DLI 2 requires a coordinated, multisectoral approach. This is why the composition of participants in this room is deliberate, bringing together key institutions and stakeholders from the Budget, Primary Healthcare and Basic Education sectors. Effective collaboration among these institutions is essential to ensuring that planning, budgeting and implementation are properly aligned,” he said.
He said budget should reflect what government intends to achieve, not simply what government intends to spend, hence
planning must drive budgeting, and budgeting must ultimately support service delivery.
“A good plan without a budget is an aspiration; a budget without a plan is an invitation to inefficiency,” he stated.
Dr. Assad said the task of the HOPE Governance Programme is to ensure that priorities are properly costed by the states, adequately funded and translated into tangible results for the citizens. “Every naira allocated should be linked to a clearly defined priority, and every priority should be supported by a realistic and actionable implementation plan.”
In her remarks on the occasion, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Deborah O. N. Odoh, said the participation of senior states officials in the workshop is to ensure that the technical work undertaken, translates into institutional decisions that will improve budgeting and implementation in the states.
She pledged the commitment of the Ministry through the HOPE Governance Programme to work with state governments and the World Bank with a view to strengthening public financial management systems and boosting the delivery of essential services to the citizens.
Speaking at the event, the World Bank Task Team Lead for the HOPE Governance Programme, Mr. Ikechukwu Nweje disclosed that states stand to receive significant incentives upon achieving Disbursement Linked Indicator 2 (DLI 2).
He reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to supporting state governments in implementing critical governance reforms aimed at improving service delivery in basic education and primary healthcare.
The HOPE Governance Programme is a US$500 million World Bank-assisted Programme domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, designed to address critical governance, financing, transparency and accountability constraints affecting the delivery of basic education and primary healthcare services.
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