Nigeria Fails To Meet Minimum Fiscal Transparency Test – US Says

Nigeria did not meet the United States government’s minimum fiscal transparency standards in 2025.

This is according to the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the US Department of State.

The report, published on Thursday, said Nigeria had also made no significant progress in fixing the weaknesses identified during the assessment period.

The US reviewed 138 governments, along with Nigeria and the Palestinian Authority, covering the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

Nigeria was among 67 governments that failed to meet the minimum requirements.

The assessment looks at how openly governments provide important financial information to the public.

This includes budget documents, government debt, audit reports, contracts involving natural resources and public procurement details.

“Fiscal transparency is a critical element of effective public financial management, helps build market confidence, and underpins economic sustainability,” the department said.

The report also said transparency “fosters greater government accountability by providing a window into government budgets, helping citizens hold their leadership accountable and facilitating better public debate”.

The US Department of State said fiscal transparency is important for sound financial management, investor confidence and long-term economic stability.

It also helps citizens monitor government spending and demand accountability from public officials.

The report said governments are expected to make key budget documents, including proposed budgets, approved budgets and year-end financial reports, easily available to the public within set timelines.

“Budget documents, including the executive budget proposal, enacted budget, and end-of-year report, should be widely and easily accessible to the public,” the report said.

Governments are also expected to publish information about their debt obligations, including debts connected to major state-owned companies.

“Information on government debt obligations, including from state-owned enterprises, should also be publicly available on a public-facing website and updated at least annually,” the report added.

The US assessment also considers whether publicly available budget documents give a clear picture of government revenue and spending.

This includes details of income from natural resources, spending by ministries and revenue received from different sources.

“Publicly available budget documents should provide a substantially full picture of a government’s planned expenditures and revenue, including natural resource revenues,” the US said.

The report said such documents should include expenditure broken down by ministry and revenue broken down by source and type, as well as allocations to and earnings from state-owned enterprises.

“Budget documents and related data are considered reliable if the information contained therein is credible, meaning actual government revenues and expenditures correspond to the enacted budget,” the department added.

Another part of the assessment focuses on the independence and effectiveness of national audit institutions. These bodies are expected to examine government financial statements and make their findings public.

For countries with major natural resource industries, the US also requires information about the process for awarding licences and contracts to be publicly available and supported by laws or regulations.

“The basic parameters of concessions and contracts should be made publicly available after the decision,” the report said.

However, the Department of State stressed that failing to meet the fiscal transparency standards does not automatically mean a country has a high level of corruption.

“A finding that a government ‘does not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements’ does not necessarily mean there is significant corruption in the government,” the department added.

“Similarly, a finding that a government ‘meets the minimum fiscal transparency requirements’ does not necessarily reflect a low level of corruption.”

Of the 140 governments assessed, including the Palestinian Authority, 73 met the minimum fiscal transparency requirements, while 67 failed to meet them.

The report said 14 of the governments that initially failed the requirements had made significant progress during the review period.

The 2026 assessment also introduced stronger requirements for governments to disclose the terms of sovereign loans provided to foreign borrowers, including information on related liabilities and assets used as collateral.

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