The United States Department of State has determined that Nigeria did not meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements in 2025, according to the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released on August 11, 2026.
The report, which reviews fiscal practices during the period January 1 to December 31, 2025, found that while Nigeria made some key documents available, significant gaps remained in budget disclosure, reliability of figures, independent auditing, and public procurement transparency. Nigeria was among 67 of the 139 governments (plus one entity) assessed that failed to meet the minimum standards. Only 14 of those that fell short were judged to have made significant progress.
According to the report, the Nigerian government made its enacted budget and end-of-year report widely and easily accessible to the public, including online, and published information on debt obligations, including those of major state-owned enterprises. However, it did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period. Budget documents also failed to provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures or to break down expenditures supporting executive offices.
The State Department further noted that actual revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond to those in the enacted budget. Nigeria’s supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence or publish substantive reports, although it had access to the entire executed budget. The government also did not publish accessible information on public procurement contracts.
On a positive note, the report acknowledged that Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund has a sound legal framework and discloses its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals. It also found that the government has specified in law the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses and followed existing regulations in practice.
Ensuring the supreme audit institution meets international standards of independence and publishes audit reports of the executed budget; and Publishing accessible information on public procurement contracts.
Fiscal transparency is described in the report as a critical element of effective public financial management that helps build market confidence, underpins economic sustainability, fosters government accountability, and supports appropriate use of U.S. foreign assistance. The annual assessment is mandated by U.S. law and evaluates whether key budget documents are publicly available, substantially complete, and reliable, as well as the transparency of natural resource contracting and public procurement processes.
The findings cover only the 2025 review period. Subsequent measures announced by the Nigerian government in 2026 fall outside the scope of this assessment.
The full 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report is available on the U.S. Department of State website.