Economists have backed a United States assessment that Nigeria failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements, warning that weak budget implementation, limited disclosure of public finances and inadequate auditing could undermine investor confidence and the country’s economic prospects.
The concerns followed the 2026 Fiscal Transparency Report released by the United States Department of State on August 11. The report assessed 140 governments and entities over the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025, and placed Nigeria among 67 that failed to meet the minimum fiscal transparency requirements.
Nigeria was also listed among countries that made no significant progress in addressing previously identified shortcomings.
The report identified several weaknesses in Nigeria’s public financial management, including the failure to publish the executive budget proposal within a reasonable period, incomplete budget information and discrepancies between actual revenues and expenditures and the enacted budget.
It also raised concerns about the independence of Nigeria’s supreme audit institution and the failure to make information on public procurement contracts accessible to citizens.
According to the report, Nigeria made its enacted budget and end-of-year report widely available to the public, including online, but failed to publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable timeframe.
The United States further noted that Nigeria’s budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures or sufficiently break down spending by executive offices.
On budget implementation, the report said actual revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond with those contained in the enacted budget.
The assessment also criticised the country’s auditing framework, stating that Nigeria’s supreme audit institution did not meet international standards of independence and did not publish substantive reports, although it had access to the entire executed budget.
Nigeria, however, received some positive assessments. The report noted that information on government debt obligations, including major debt owed by state-owned enterprises, was publicly available.
It also said Nigeria had a sound legal framework for its sovereign wealth fund and disclosed its funding sources and general approach to withdrawals.
The United States further acknowledged that Nigeria had laws outlining the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licences and generally followed those regulations.
However, the country was faulted for failing to make public information on government procurement contracts.
The Fiscal Transparency Report is an annual assessment required under United States law for governments receiving certain forms of American assistance. It examines the extent to which governments provide the public with information about revenues, expenditure, debt, natural resource contracts and procurement.
The United States Department of State said fiscal transparency helps strengthen accountability, improve public participation in government spending and build confidence in the economy.
It stressed that the assessment should not be interpreted as a corruption rating, noting that failure to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements does not necessarily mean that a government is significantly corrupt.
The report said a lack of fiscal transparency could create conditions that enable corruption, but emphasised that the exercise itself does not assess corruption.
Economists have consequently warned that Nigeria’s shortcomings in budget disclosure, implementation and auditing could make it harder for investors and citizens to properly assess government finances, potentially weakening confidence in the country’s economic management.