ABUJA, July 2 – Twenty Nigerian states will receive a combined $27 million in performance based grants under the World Bank supported Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) Governance Programme after meeting agreed reform targets in education, healthcare and public financial management.
The funding was announced by the National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Dr. Assad Hassan, during a retreat for state budget and planning officials in Abuja.
According to Hassan, the grants are tied to specific reform milestones. States qualified after meeting targets such as adopting planning guidelines for basic education and primary healthcare, introducing harmonised local government budget guidelines and publishing Citizens’ Budgets to improve transparency.
Following an independent assessment, Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe each qualified for $3 million after meeting two education and healthcare planning targets. Nine states earned $500,000 each for adopting harmonised local government budget guidelines, while 15 states qualified for another $500,000 after publishing their 2025 Citizens’ Budgets.
Hassan said states that did not receive funding either failed to meet the required benchmarks, missed submission deadlines or did not publish the necessary documents on their official websites.
The $500 million HOPE Governance Programme was launched by the Federal Government and the World Bank to improve financing and strengthen management systems in Nigeria’s basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
Of the total funding, $480 million has been set aside for performance based grants to states, while the remaining $20 million will support technical assistance, institutional capacity and programme implementation.
