CSO’s decry decline in Akwa Ibom govt’s fiscal transparency, accountability
Civil Society Organisations in Akwa Ibom State, have noted with dismay the sharp decline on fiscal transparency and accountability by the state government in recent times.
They made the observations during the Public Finance Management Review meeting for 2025 First and Second Quarters in Uyo, facilitated by Policy Alert- an organisation that promotes fiscal and ecological justice in the Niger Delta.
The Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, stated that such decline would not only hamper the ability of CSOs,the media, and other stakeholders to scrutinize fiscal activities in the state but would further weaken a system of checks and balances built over the years.
He reported that out of the 36 states of the federation, only Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Plateau, and Rivers have not published detailed capital expenditure reports since first quarter of 2025.
“For Q1 and Q2 2025, the state has reduced its Budget Implementation Report to a 3-page summary instead of the usual comprehensive reports (averaging 46-pages) in preceding years. This superficial reporting marks a significant departure from previous transparency standards. Most states publish reports exceeding 60 pages, including project-level details in key sectors like Education and Health.”
The ED observed the gaps in the public finance management cycle to include: lack of detailed breakdown of revenue by Administrative Classification (e.g., IGR by MDA), Lack of data on Revenue Sources: Statutory Allocations, Derivation Funds, VAT shares, Ecological Funds, etc., and Missing IGR details: Taxes, Licenses, Royalties, Fees, Rents, Investment Income, Interest Earned among others.
He said the Akwa Ibom government should understand that its recent actions breached the Fiscal Responsibility Law (Section 48 (1)) which mandates full, timely, and wide disclosure of public finances, adding that the recent rollback in financial transparency was against the gains earlier achieved on fiscal transparency and accountability in the state.
“Akwa Ibom State had over the years made steady progress in fiscal transparency and accountability. Early gains include the online publication of annual budgets (since 2015) and the (publication of annual budget implementation reports (since 2018) and the holding of annual citizens budget forums,” he recalled.
However, the representatives of the CSOs who took turns to speak called on Akwa Ibom State government to restore and strengthen financial transparency in the state by publishing a comprehensive quarterly and annual BIR reports including the following details: Revenue by source and classification, Expenditure by MDA and sector Capital projects with line-item details.
They also called on the state government to make financial reports available online in user-friendly formats, engage civil society and media in data interpretation, establish transparent mechanisms for tracking and publishing project-level capital expenditure and regularly update and publish performance reports.
CSO’s decry decline in Akwa Ibom govt’s fiscal transparency, accountability
