Akwa Ibom and Rivers Left Out of Key Financial Review Due to Missing Data

Akwa Ibom and Rivers states are not included in an important assessment of how Nigerian states handle money after the fuel subsidy removal. This is because they did not provide full budget implementation records. This lack of data makes it hard to evaluate billions of naira in public funds.

The two oil-rich states were missing from BudgIT’s recent report titled "Nigeria’s Reforms: What Has Changed Across Nigeria’s States? An Analysis of State Finances in the Post-Subsidy Years." This report looked at how states changed their revenue and spending from 2022 to 2025.

The report checked revenue growth, staff costs, operating costs, capital spending, and funds for important areas like education, health, infrastructure, and administration.

While 34 states were analyzed, Akwa Ibom and Rivers were left out because they did not make their Quarter One to Quarter Four (Q1-Q4) Budget Implementation Reports (BIRs) available for the review period.

This exclusion is significant. BudgIT based its analysis on actual money received and spent, not just approved budgets, which only show plans for income and expenses.

As a result, without the complete financial records from these two states, we cannot compare their financial performance during a time when federal allocations were increasing.

BudgIT reported that total revenue for the 34 states in the study rose from N4.840 trillion in 2022 to N15.526 trillion in 2025, marking a growth of 220.76 percent.

Total FAAC allocations jumped from N3.427 trillion to N11.378 trillion during this time, an increase of 232.06 percent. Internally generated revenue also grew from N1.565 trillion to N4.147 trillion, a rise of 165.01 percent.

BudgIT said this growth was mainly due to more federal transfers, currency changes, better tax collection, and higher oil earnings.

The report aimed to answer how states spent the extra money they received after the subsidy was removed. But for Akwa Ibom and Rivers, this question cannot be answered because of missing financial records.

BudgIT’s Country Director in Nigeria, Vahyala Kwaga, told PREMIUM TIMES that this exclusion affects public accountability.

"It means that critical measurement and analysis of those states will not happen. It means that a view of their financial situation will not happen. It also means that citizens are left with very little with which to ask questions," he said.

Kwaga called for Rivers State to start publishing its BIRs again and to make its Accountant-General’s reports available.

He noted that political issues between the legislature and executive in Rivers State led to important documents not being prepared or shared.

BudgIT’s concerns with Akwa Ibom are different. Kwaga said he was worried that Akwa Ibom, which used to provide detailed fiscal reports, had stopped doing so without a good reason.

"For Akwa Ibom, BudgIT notes with regret that a state that once produced comparatively detailed reporting simply stopped doing so for no justifiable reason," he said.

He added that the reduction in the size and detail of the state’s reports shows how quickly transparency can decline.

Akwa Ibom’s BIRs used to be over 20 pages but are now often less than five pages.

BudgIT urged the Akwa Ibom State Government to go back to publishing detailed fiscal reports.

The Akwa Ibom State Government defended its shorter reports. The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Linus Nkan, told PREMIUM TIMES that they simplified the reports to make them easier for citizens to understand.

"What we publish is more concise and easy to understand," Mr Nkan said.

He argued that some detailed information could be too much to handle and that some spending figures relate to ongoing work.

"Some information may become too bogus. Some of this information is ongoing and work in progress. When the year is completed, we publish the audited account. There you will see everything about what the state has received and done," he said.

Nkan described BIRs as interim documents.

"Those BIRs are interim reports and for me, they are simply in pieces," he said.

But this raises another question: can interim reports be detailed enough like those from the other 34 states to let citizens track spending as it happens?

This matter is important because BIRs are not just meant to show the final account of government finances. They give regular updates on actual revenue and spending during the year. This helps citizens, lawmakers, and others to monitor how projects are running.

PREMIUM TIMES also asked Mr Nkan about the change in reporting under the previous and current administrations.

The newspaper noted that the Akwa Ibom government, including the last governor, Udom Emmanuel, and the early period of Governor Umo Eno’s administration, published more detailed reports from the third quarter of 2023 through the fourth quarter of 2024.

The newspaper also found that the state’s recent financial statements lacked details about capital spending, making it hard for citizens to reconcile the state’s revenue with expenses.

When asked why the state moved to shorter reports, Mr Nkan said he would clarify this when he could meet with the PREMIUM TIMES reporter.

He did not set a date for that meeting.

The exclusion from BudgIT’s study comes amid ongoing worries about Akwa Ibom’s fiscal transparency.

PREMIUM TIMES has often reported the state’s failure to publish full budget performance reports, especially from the first quarter of 2025 through the second quarter of 2026.

The newspaper also pointed out that under Mr Eno, the state has become less transparent in sharing fiscal information despite having more revenue.

BudgIT and civil society groups have raised concerns about the missing or poor fiscal documents.

This is significant because Akwa Ibom has received much more public revenue under Mr Eno.

PREMIUM TIMES’ analysis showed that the state got N2.934 trillion in revenue in the first 38 months of the administration.

But without complete implementation reports, it is tough for independent analysts and citizens to determine if all revenue was properly managed and how much was spent, when it was spent, and on which projects.

Rivers State's situation is different but just as serious.

The state has faced a long political crisis between the executive and legislature, including a state of emergency declared in March 2025.

This crisis disrupted the budget process and led to arguments over approvals and finances.

Even though Governor Siminalayi Fubara returned to office after the emergency rule, worries about the state’s financial reporting continued.

Rivers had not published complete BIRs for 2025 when BudgIT did its analysis, which is why it was not included.

BudgIT’s call for Rivers to publish its Accountant-General’s report emphasizes the need for citizens to see complete financial records.

BudgIT said its study used actual Q1-Q4 implementation reports for 2022 and 2025 because approved budgets do not truly reflect what was received or spent.

They pulled spending data from the Total Expenditure by Administrative Classification section of the BIRs to ensure fair comparisons.

This means the lack of data from Akwa Ibom and Rivers was not a choice by BudgIT but a result of these states not providing the necessary information.

This has created a gap in accountability at a time when states are receiving more federal funds. Citizens in these two major oil-producing states cannot see how their governments are handling these resources.

In Akwa Ibom, the idea that BIRs are interim reports and that fuller information will come later has not answered the transparency issues raised by BudgIT.

Periodic reports are different from audited accounts. They help citizens check on government spending while the year and projects are still going.

For Rivers, the political crisis explains the reporting issues but does not excuse the need for regular financial reports.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, Honour Sirawoo, did not respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ inquiry on why the state has not published its BIRs and when it will do so.

For both states, BudgIT’s exclusion means that independent reviews of their finances are weaker because the needed information is missing.

Kwaga said this leaves citizens with fewer ways to question the government about public funds.

For citizens, this means that at a time when state governments in Nigeria are getting more money than ever, following the money becomes harder in Akwa Ibom and Rivers compared to the 34 states that BudgIT analyzed.