The 2025 Subnational Audit Efficacy (SAE) Index released by the Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI) has ranked Ekiti State as the top-performing state in transparency and public finance management in Nigeria.

The annual scorecard, unveiled in Abuja on Tuesday assessed public finance management and policy implementation practices across the 36 states through public audit systems and key actors in the audit cycle.

The report revealed that Ekiti led the ranking with a score of 72 per cent, while Gombe and Yobe states placed jointly second with 68 per cent each. At the bottom, Abia and Rivers states ranked 36th, both scoring nine per cent.

PLSI, a civic organisation promoting public accountability, said the 2025 index adopted a modified methodology to include public audit functions at the local government level for the first time in six years. The assessment weighted state performance at 80 per cent and local government performance at 20 per cent, using data from the 2024 financial year.

Presenting the report, PLSI Executive Director, Olusegun Elemo, said gains recorded under the $1.5 billion World Bank-assisted States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Programme (2018–2022) had not been sustained in subsequent years.

According to him, while the 2022 assessment showed stagnation or reversal, the 2023 index revealed deeper decline and reform erosion, and 2024 recorded further weakening of accountability systems.

However, he noted that the 2025 index signalled a modest recovery, with the average score rising to 34.5 per cent from 29.47 per cent in 2024, representing a 5.03 percentage point increase.

He said the improvement reflects renewed momentum among subnational accountability actors but stressed that its impact would depend on whether it translates into better service delivery and equitable resource allocation.

The report also revealed persistent gaps in fiscal governance. Only five states have implemented financial autonomy, while 12 states have established administrative independence for the Office of the Auditor-General.

In addition, 18 states failed to publish audit reports on state accounts, while 21 states did not publish reports on local government accounts during the 2024 financial year.

Elemo urged state governments and relevant agencies to deepen accountability by fully implementing financial autonomy for audit institutions, ensuring timely release of funds, and establishing audit service commissions to guarantee independence.

The report noted a gradual shift towards performance-based accountability, with three states producing standard performance audit reports in 2025, compared to none in 2023.

It also highlighted improvements in public access to financial information, with 18 states publishing Citizens’ Accountability Reports in 2024, up from 11 in 2023 and eight in 2022.

PLSI recommended mandatory and timely publication of audit reports, expansion of performance and value-for-money audits across key sectors, and stronger legislative oversight through effective Public Accounts Committees, noting that only three states currently have fully functional committees.