States Get $27m World Bank Grants for Meeting Governance, Budgeting Targets

The federal government, through the World Bank-supported HOPE governance programme, has approved the disbursement of $27 million in performance-based grants to states that met key governance and budgeting targets under the initiative.

Assad Hassan, national coordinator of the HOPE governance programme, announced the approval on Tuesday during a retreat for commissioners, permanent secretaries, and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.

Hassan said the disbursement followed the recommendations of the programme’s interim independent verification agent (IVA), which assessed states’ performance against the year-zero disbursement-linked results (DLRs).

“Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe states qualified for $1.5 million each under the disbursement-linked results for adopting comprehensive guidelines for preparing and submitting consolidated work plans for basic education and primary healthcare budgets,” Hassan said.

The coordinator said Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, and Yobe qualified for $500,000 each for adopting harmonised budget guidelines and chart of accounts for local governments.

He said Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau, and Yobe would also receive $500,000 each for publishing their 2025 citizens’ budgets for basic education and primary healthcare.

Hassan said the states that failed to qualify either published the required documents after the March 31, 2025 deadline, did not meet the stipulated assessment criteria, or failed to publish the required documents on their official websites.

The national coordinator added that the interim verification agent is expected to conclude the second phase of the year-zero verification exercise by July 2026.

The HOPE governance programme is a $500 million World Bank-supported initiative designed to strengthen financing, transparency, and accountability in basic education and primary healthcare across Nigeria.