World Bank Approves $27m Reward For States Over Key Reforms
Not fewer than 20 states across Nigeria are set to benefit from a $27 million incentive package approved by the World Bank after meeting key reform targets in education, healthcare and public finance management.
The reward package, announced under the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme, is aimed at encouraging states that successfully carried out important governance reforms tied to budget transparency and service delivery improvements.
Five states emerged as the biggest beneficiaries after recording the strongest performance during the assessment process conducted under the programme.
Officials disclosed that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe qualified to receive the highest incentives after meeting requirements linked to education and primary healthcare budget reforms.
Each of the five states will receive $1.5 million under two separate performance categories, bringing their total reward earnings to about $3 million each.
Under another reform category focused on local government budgeting systems, states including Adamawa, Delta, Gombe, Plateau and Taraba also qualified for financial incentives.
Fifteen additional states were rewarded for successfully publishing their 2025 Citizens Budget reports covering basic education and primary healthcare spending.
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, said only states that met strict requirements within the approved deadline qualified for the incentive package.
He explained that several participating states failed to meet the conditions because they either missed deadlines or did not fully comply with programme requirements.
The latest reward package forms part of the World Bank’s wider effort to strengthen accountability, transparency and better management of public funds across Nigeria while improving healthcare and education services nationwide.