States Jigawa and Ondo outperformed others to hold the top two spots in the second quarter (Q2) of the 2023 States Fiscal Transparency League, which was released by BudgIT.
A civic organization called BudgIT employs innovative technology to make public information easier to understand. By doing so, it encourages a community of engaged people and empowers them to demand accountability, institutional changes, effective service delivery, and an equal society.
Four states—Sokoto, Benue, Ogun, and Enugu—performed poorly as well, ranking 36th, 35th, 34th, and 33rd, respectively, according to the report.
According to BudgIT, the program builds on the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Program of the World Bank, which was completed recently and encourages accountability in public resource management.
According to BudgIT, the governments Fiscal Transparency League project aims to preserve the progress made by the World Bank’s SFTAS by monitoring the degree to which governments uphold fiscal responsibility, transparency, accessibility, and efficient public finance management.
The program evaluates the availability and accessibility of information based on proposed budgets, approved budgets, citizens’ budgets, and budget implementation reports (BIR). It is a quarterly review of how well the states are operating. The eProcurement portal, contract award information, medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEF), citizen involvement, audited reports, citizens’ accountability reports, and Freedom of Information (FOI) Act compliance are some other examples.
According to the research, Jigawa State’s MTEF paper was thorough, on time, and included a citizens’ budget, making them eligible to lead the others.
The e-procurement portal and the state website are user-friendly and contain all the necessary information.
Ondo, for its part, also had an MTEF paper that was timely issued and completely detailed. In contrast to its citizens’ budget, which was authorized on time, its approved budget was comprehensive but not timely.
Similar to the state website, the e-procurement portal is easily navigable, comprehensive, and accessible.
