The Center for Fiscal Transparency and Integrity Watch (CeFTIW) has joined stakeholders at World Bank – State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) dinner to reflect on the performances of state government in these core governance indices.
The event was organized to celebrate SFTAS achievements since inception and extract commitments from state Governors on ways to improve transparency in governance at the state and local government.
While we join in celebrating the success of the SFTAS project, the Center believes that more work needs to be done to achieve fiscal prudence and accountability in the management of state and local government resources. As an independent umpire, our homegrown assessment of fiscal transparency, the Transparency and Integrity Index (TII) has shown that the highest-ranked state in 2022 is Ekiti, with a cumulative score of 58.74%, with the least-performing state (Ogun) scoring 21.25%.
The quoted result is a decline from the 2021 assessment which saw the highest-ranked state (Kaduna) scoring 76.67%, although the least-performing state (Zamfara) scored 16.67%. This clearly means that attention should be paid to the sustainability ingredient in the SFTAS project. State governments must mainstream fiscal transparency measures to promote openness in their activities as a means of fighting corruption.
The Center is pleased with the reception and popularity of its TII among state Governors during the dinner event, and we are willing to work with state governments to improve transparency and accountability for improved performance in subsequent assessments. Interestingly, most of the Disbursement Link Indicators (DLIs) of the SFTAS project are sub-variables in the Center’s TII Assessment, hence, the TII would continue to monitor the implementation of the DLIs across the states of the federation for project sustainability.