Abia Qualifies for $500,000 World Bank-Backed Governance Grant

Abia State has qualified for a 500,000-dollar performance-based grant under the World Bank-backed HOPE Governance Programme, following its successful attainment of key governance, transparency and budgeting benchmarks.

The Federal Government announced the approval of 27 million dollars in performance grants for states that met the programme’s eligibility requirements, aimed at strengthening governance and public financial management across Nigeria.

The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, made the disclosure during a retreat for Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Directors of Budget and Planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.

According to Hassan, Abia is among 15 states that qualified for the 500,000-dollar grant after publishing their 2025 Citizens’ Budgets for basic education and primary healthcare, a key requirement under the programme’s performance assessment framework.

Other beneficiary states include Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Yobe.

He explained that the grant is intended to encourage greater transparency, accountability and prudent public financial management, particularly in the education and healthcare sectors.

Hassan further revealed that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe States qualified for an additional 1.5 million dollars each after adopting comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for basic education and primary healthcare budgets.

Similarly, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe 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 designed to strengthen governance systems, improve public financial management, and enhance service delivery in Nigeria’s education and primary healthcare sectors through performance-based incentives for participating states.