Nigeria records best performance in open budget survey

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3 years ago

Ben Akabueze

Nigeria recorded its best performance in the Open Budget Survey (OBS), scoring 45 per cent in the latest 2021 survey for transparency, depicting an improvement by 24 points, a significant leap from the 21 scored in the 2019 exercise.

Nigeria’s performance is the second-highest improvement worldwide, according to the report.

This was disclosed on Tuesday in Abuja by the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, at the official launch of the Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2021 report by the Budget Office of the Federation (BOF) in conjunction with the International Budget Partnership (IBP).

Mr Akabueze pointed out that Government has over the past several years undertaken a number of reforms in the Public Finance Management (PFM) space which have culminated in the significant improvements posted in the report.

“Nigeria posted its best performance in the open budget survey, improving by 24 points for transparency in the latest Open Budget Survey. The total transparency score of 45 in the 2021 survey, is a significant leap from the
21 scored in the 2019 survey. This performance is the second-highest improvement worldwide,” Mr Akabueze stated.

In his overview of Public Finance Management (PFM) in Nigeria, Mr Akabueze explained that it encompasses all government’s fiscal operations, principally tax policies, resource mobilisation activities, expenditure policies/management, and the adjustments of one or the other, to achieve desired effects.

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He pledged the Federal Government’s commitment to all the different moving parts of the PFM reform agenda, stressing that central to it is the bullish domestic revenue mobilisation effort as well as efficiency in revenue and expenditure management.

The Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation restated the government’s resolve to continue to work with non-state actors and various CSO groups to entrench public participation in government programmes, and pointed out that “achieving government’s reform agenda requires bold, decisive and urgent actions, some of which may entail short-term pain but medium-/long-term gains.”

Mr Akabueze reiterated that “The outcome of the 2021 Open Budget Survey is one that signposts our commitment to continuous reform efforts. We are optimistic about our reform plans considering the positive outlook and look forward to better-improved scores in the next round of survey. We shall explore available opportunities to streamline processes and leverage technology where necessary to improve the PFM ecosystem in Nigeria.”

He said the government has taken note of the recommendations from the International Budget Partnership for Nigeria and will consider those not already covered in our reform agenda.

Sally Torbert, Senior Programme Officer, International Budget Partnership explained that the Open Budget Survey (OBS) is the only comparable and independent measure of budget transparency, participation, and oversight in the world, covering 120 countries in 2021.

The survey, she noted uses a questionnaire with 145 scored indicators drawn from international good practices and standards, and that the survey research is usually conducted by local civil society researchers where questionnaires are peer-reviewed, and governments are invited to comment on the draft results.

Sally Torbert recommended that the Federal Government should improve legislative oversight by “publishing reports from legislative committees with analysis and findings from debates on the budget proposal, budget implementation, and audit report”, and “strengthen audit oversight by providing adequate funding for the Auditor General’s office”, and called for independent external review of audit processes.

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Nigeria records best performance in open budget survey