A new report by BudgIT has revealed that only 10 states in Nigeria currently publish their local government (LGA) budgets online, highlighting gaps in transparency at the grassroots level.
Local government councils are responsible for delivering basic services such as primary healthcare, education and community infrastructure. Their budgets are expected to guide spending and ensure accountability to citizens.
However, access to these budgets has remained limited across Nigeria, with most documents stored at council offices and not easily accessible to the public.
The BudgIT report, titled “The Missing Tier: Mapping Local Government Budget Transparency in Nigeria,” examines how accessible these financial records are across the country.
According to the report, only 10 states provide publicly accessible LGA budget data online, while six states offer partial information.
The report further found that 18 states do not publish any LGA budget information online, limiting public access to financial data at the local government level.
BudgIT stated that although budgets exist across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, most are not available online for citizens to review.
Among the states identified as performing relatively better in transparency is Ekiti State, alongside others such as Ebonyi, Osun, Kebbi, Kogi, Enugu, Kaduna and Yobe.
However, the report noted that even in these states, many published budgets are not up to date or are incomplete, with inconsistencies in structure and accessibility.
Limited access to local government budgets can affect accountability and citizen participation in governance.
Without publicly available data, it becomes difficult for residents to track how funds are allocated and spent at the grassroots level.
For civil society organisations and policy stakeholders, the findings highlight the need for improved transparency systems and digital access to public financial records.
Improved budget disclosure may also strengthen trust in governance and support better service delivery at the local level.
