Lagos, Benue states ranked low in audit disclosure

A report by the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), a non-profit organization fostering public accountability in Nigeria, has ranked Lagos and Benue as the lowest states with public disclosure of government spending.

The submissions, which were contained in the 2023 edition of its annual Subnational Audit Efficacy (SAE) Index, stated that Benue and Lagos states lagged behind, occupying the 35th and 36th positions with 10% and 5%, respectively.

Daily Trust reports that the index assesses the level of transparency and accountability operational in the management and utilization of public funds and implementation of public policies across all 36 states of the federation through public audit and key actors in the public audit action cycle.

The report which was launched yesterday in Abuja, however, stated that Ekiti and Yobe states were the top performers, both attaining a score of 73% followed by Akwa Ibom and Katsina states, securing 3rd and 4th positions with 60% and 53%, respectively.

• Kano, Borno, Benue ranked low in audit disclosure
• Tinubu directs prioritisation of digital infrastructure investments

Sokoto, Taraba, and Ondo states scored 31%, placing them at the 15th spot.

The report also showed that 34 states (except Anambra and Benue) have modern audit laws to guarantee the independence of Supreme Audit Institutions and strengthen public audit practices at the state level.

It stated that despite improvement in the policy landscape, there is no effective implementation of enacted audit laws in various states which continue to stand in the way of accountability and development.

The Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, said the index serves as an annual scorecard assessing the public finance management and policy implementation practices at the state level.

He however expressed concern over the waning performance of states noting that results from the latest assessment indicated a further decline in the performance of policy actors and erosion of reforms needed to sustain and improve on the World Bank-Assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme for Results implemented between 2018 and 2022 of which the sum of $1.5bn was provided to state governments as grants.