Five Nigerian states are set to receive a combined $15 million in performance-based incentives under the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after emerging as the top performers in implementing critical education and primary healthcare reforms.
According to DIP CONNECT ONLINE NEWS, the National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, announced the development on Tuesday during a retreat for commissioners, permanent secretaries, and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory held in Abuja.
The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the programme's Communications Officer, Joe Mutah.
The HOPE Governance Programme, which is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, approved a total of $27 million in incentives for states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs).
The incentives are based on assessments conducted by the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which evaluated the performance of participating states against the programme's Disbursement-Linked Indicators.
The statement noted, "The World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is set to disburse $27 million as performance-based incentives to states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results."
A breakdown of the awards shows that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi, and Yobe emerged as the highest beneficiaries.
Each of the five states qualified to receive $1.5 million under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.1, which focuses on adopting comprehensive guidelines for preparing and submitting consolidated work plans for state basic education budgets.
The same states also qualified for another $1.5 million each under DLR 2.2, which measures the adoption of comprehensive guidelines for preparing and submitting consolidated work plans for state primary healthcare budgets.
Combined, the five states will receive $15 million under the two performance indicators.
Under DLR 2.3, which rewards states for adopting harmonised budget guidelines and a chart of accounts for local governments, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba, and Yobe qualified to receive $500,000 each.
Similarly, 15 states met the requirements under DLR 4.1, which focuses on publishing the 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare by February 28, 2025.
The qualifying states are Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau, and Yobe, with each state receiving $500,000.
Explaining the basis for the awards, Hassan said only states that fulfilled all stipulated conditions within the specified timelines qualified for the incentives.
According to the statement, "The incentives are based on the findings and recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which carried out a rigorous assessment of states' performances against the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Indicators.
"For DLR 2.1 and DLR 2.2, Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe states met all the requirements and are therefore eligible to receive $1.5 million each for both indicators.
"For DLR 2.3, nine states successfully adopted harmonised budget guidelines and a chart of accounts for local governments and will receive $500,000 each.
"Also, under DLR 4.1, 15 states met the conditions relating to the publication of the Financial Year 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare and will equally receive $500,000 each."
Hassan explained that many states failed to qualify because they either missed the required deadlines or did not fully comply with the programme's conditions.
He stated that some states published the required guidelines after the March 31, 2025 deadline, failed to satisfy most of the required criteria, or did not upload the necessary documents to their official state websites.
The programme coordinator also identified poor institutional coordination as one of the major reasons for the weak performance recorded by several states.
According to him, many states have not established effective coordination mechanisms among ministries, departments and agencies, a situation that threatens the long-term sustainability of the reforms.
He urged state governments to institutionalise the reforms rather than treat them as one-time activities.
Hassan further disclosed that the Interim Independent Verification Agent is expected to conclude the second phase of verification for the Year Zero results by July 2026.
He added that the programme has already commenced implementing a comprehensive capacity-building plan aimed at providing technical support to states to improve their performance in future assessments.
According to him, the capacity-building initiative is designed to strengthen state systems and enable them to achieve subsequent programme targets.
He explained that the overall objectives of the HOPE Governance Programme include improving the utilisation of federal and state resources at the facility level for primary healthcare and basic education, promoting transparency in intergovernmental transfers and public spending, strengthening accountability, and addressing staffing shortages in both sectors.
The programme also seeks to improve the implementation of coordinated annual plans for education and healthcare while supporting the recruitment and deployment of teachers and frontline healthcare workers across the states.
The HOPE Governance Programme is a $500 million World Bank-supported initiative aimed at improving financing for basic education and primary healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
The programme is also designed to enhance transparency and accountability in public expenditure while strengthening the recruitment, deployment and performance management of teachers and primary healthcare personnel at the federal, state and local government levels.
The newly approved $27 million incentive package represents one of the programme's first major performance-based reward initiatives and highlights the increasing adoption of performance-driven financing to accelerate reforms in Nigeria's education and healthcare sectors.
ADEOLA KUNLE
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