by AmforGod Olisa
Nigeria Must Move from Political Rhetoric to Measurable Accountability
For decades, Nigeria’s political landscape has been filled with promises of transparency, accountability, development and democratic reform. From election campaigns to inaugural speeches and policy documents, the language of good governance has become familiar.
The challenge, however, is no longer what governments promise. The real question is: How do citizens measure whether governance is actually improving?
This question has become particularly relevant following the July 2026 Open Government Partnership Nigeria Subnational Status Ranking, which placed Anambra, Kaduna and Plateau states in the highest category, with each recording a 100 per cent “Healthy” status. The assessment considers implementation of open-government principles including transparency, accountability and citizen participation.
The development offers an important opportunity for Nigeria to rethink how government performance is assessed.
Beyond Political Narratives
Governance in Nigeria is too often evaluated through political loyalty.
Supporters of a government describe almost every policy as a success, while opponents frequently dismiss even potentially useful reforms. Between these competing political narratives, citizens are left with the difficult task of determining what has actually changed.
Good governance cannot continue to depend on slogans, media visibility, political popularity or the number of projects announced at public ceremonies.
It must be measured.
Can citizens easily access government budgets?
Are procurement processes transparent?
Can communities participate meaningfully in decisions that affect them?
Can citizens track public expenditure from budget allocation to actual implementation?
Do public institutions respond to legitimate requests for information?
Are government contracts awarded through transparent procedures?
Can citizens see measurable improvements in healthcare, education, security, infrastructure and other public services?
These are the questions that should define modern governance.
Transparency Must Produce Results
The progress recorded by Anambra, Kaduna and Plateau should be acknowledged. However, rankings should not become another instrument of political celebration without deeper examination.
The true value of transparency is not the publication of documents alone. It is what citizens can do with the information.
A budget published online is an important step, but citizens must be able to understand it, monitor implementation and question discrepancies. Public consultations are useful, but citizens must see evidence that their contributions influence decisions.
Nigeria has participated in the Open Government Partnership framework for years, and the OGP platform now lists a Nigeria Action Plan for 2026–2029 alongside previous national and subnational action plans.
The next stage must therefore focus on connecting openness with outcomes.
A citizen should be able to ask: Has greater transparency improved the hospital in my community? Has it strengthened the school my children attend? Has it reduced abandoned projects? Has it improved procurement? Has it made local government more responsive?
If governance reforms cannot eventually produce visible public value, then reform remains incomplete.
Nigeria Needs Healthy Competition in Governance
One important benefit of performance assessment is that it can encourage competition among governments.
Nigeria’s 36 states should not compete only over political influence, internally generated revenue figures or the size of government projects. They should also compete in transparency, accountability, budget openness, procurement integrity, citizen engagement and quality of service delivery.
Public rankings can help citizens compare performance, identify reform leaders and demand improvement from governments that are falling behind.
However, such assessments must remain credible, transparent and open to independent scrutiny. Government performance cannot be evaluated solely by government institutions themselves. Civil society organisations, professional bodies, the media, researchers, communities and citizens all have important roles in monitoring governance.
The wider transparency debate also shows why quality matters as much as availability. BudgIT has argued that Nigeria’s subnational budget-transparency journey must move beyond simply publishing reports toward improving the accuracy and usefulness of the information made available to citizens. (The Budgit Foundation)
Strong Institutions Matter More Than Strong Personalities
Nigeria must gradually move away from a governance culture built around individuals.
Good governance should not disappear when a governor, minister, chairman or political party leaves office. Reforms must be institutionalized through laws, administrative systems, professional public services, transparent procedures and effective oversight mechanisms.
A strong institution should function regardless of who occupies the office.
This is one of the central challenges of Nigeria’s democratic development. The country has held successive elections, but democracy must be judged by more than election cycles. Between elections, citizens deserve institutions that are open, accountable, responsive and capable of delivering public value.
The real test of democratic governance is not only whether citizens can vote for leaders, but whether they can hold those leaders and public institutions accountable after the election.
The Role of Citizens
Government accountability also requires active citizenship.
Citizens cannot demand transparency while remaining completely disconnected from budgets, public hearings, community development processes and policy debates.
Civil society organisations, professional institutions, traditional institutions, youth groups, the private sector and the media must help translate complex government information into forms ordinary citizens can understand and use.
Accountability becomes stronger when citizens know what has been budgeted, what has been released, what has been spent and what should have been delivered.
Nigeria therefore needs both open government and informed citizenship.
The IGGPS Perspective
For the Institute of Good Governance and Political Studies (IGGPS), the lesson from the latest subnational governance assessment goes beyond which state came first.
The deeper issue is the urgent need to establish a culture in which public leadership is evaluated by evidence.
Nigeria must build governance systems where transparency is normal, accountability is enforceable, citizen participation is meaningful and public institutions are stronger than the personalities occupying them.
Good governance should be visible in the quality of institutions, the management of public resources, the responsiveness of government and the daily experiences of citizens.
IGGPS Editorial Position
Nigeria must move from personality-driven governance to institution-driven governance. Good governance should not be determined by political slogans, media visibility or partisan loyalty. It must be assessed through measurable standards of transparency, accountability, citizen participation, institutional integrity and public service delivery.
The performance of Anambra, Kaduna and Plateau in the July 2026 assessment should encourage healthy competition among Nigerian states. But rankings must ultimately translate into stronger institutions, better public services and increased public trust.
Nigeria’s democratic future will depend not only on conducting credible elections, but also on building institutions that remain transparent, accountable and responsive every day between elections.
Good governance must be measured, experienced and sustained—not merely promised.
