Lawyer Challenges US Assessment of Nigeria’s Fiscal Transparency

A legal practitioner has challenged the United States’ assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency, describing it as incomplete.

Public affairs analyst and legal practitioner John Ude, Esq., made the argument in a statement issued on Friday. He said the US assessment appears flawed when compared with verifiable fiscal information from Nigeria.

The US Department of State’s 2026 Fiscal Transparency data, published on Tuesday, gave the Nigerian government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a poor assessment. The report cited concerns over the disclosure of revenue and expenditure information.

Ude, however, argued that the report should not serve as a complete assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency. He pointed to existing government publications as evidence that transparency mechanisms are already operating.

“The US report, released on Tuesday, said Nigeria failed to meet the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency for the second consecutive year and made no significant progress in improving its financial management in 2025.

“The fact that the report acknowledges the publication of the enacted budget, end-of-year report and debt information demonstrates that there are functioning transparency mechanisms within the system.

“We are not arguing that Nigeria has achieved perfection in fiscal transparency. There are gaps that must be addressed, particularly around procurement disclosure, audit effectiveness and the timely publication of some fiscal documents,” Ude stated.

Ude acknowledged that Nigeria still needs to improve several areas of fiscal transparency, particularly procurement disclosures, audit performance and the timely release of financial documents.

His comments come as debate continues over Nigeria’s financial management and the extent to which government revenue, spending and debt information are publicly available.

Do you agree that the US assessment provides an incomplete picture of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency?