Abia State has emerged as one of 15 states approved to receive a 500,000-dollar performance-based grant under the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after meeting key governance and budgeting benchmarks.
The Federal Government announced the approval of a total of 27 million dollars in grants for states that satisfied the programme’s performance requirements.
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, disclosed this during a retreat for Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Directors of Budget and Planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held in Abuja.
According to Hassan, Abia, alongside Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau, and Yobe States, qualified for the 500,000-dollar grant after successfully publishing their 2025 Citizens’ Budgets for basic education and primary healthcare.
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He explained that the grant is designed to reward states that demonstrate transparency, accountability, and improved public financial management in critical sectors.
Hassan further disclosed that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi, and Yobe States each qualified for an additional 1.5 million dollars after adopting comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for basic education and primary healthcare budgets.
He added that Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, and Yobe States also secured an additional 500,000 dollars each for adopting harmonised budget guidelines and a unified chart of accounts for local governments.
The HOPE Governance Programme, supported by the World Bank, is aimed at strengthening governance systems, improving public financial management, and enhancing service delivery in Nigeria’s education and healthcare sectors through performance-based incentives for participating states.
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