Governor Umo Eno's administration in Akwa Ibom State is facing scrutiny for an alleged increase in government secrecy and breaches of the state's fiscal responsibility legislation. This comes despite campaign promises and a manifesto that pledged to uphold transparency and accountability. A review of financial records, legal statutes, and reports from civil society organizations suggests a divergence from the state's previous commitment to openness.
Governor Eno's campaign platform, known as the ARISE Agenda, explicitly promised to "promote accountability and transparency by ensuring compliance with Fiscal Responsibility and Public Procurement Acts." This pledge was reiterated at various public forums and meetings. However, over two years into his tenure, an analysis of budget documents, official timelines, legal requirements, and official responses indicates a widening gap between these promises and the administration's actions.
Rather than enhancing fiscal openness, evidence suggests that Governor Eno's administration has adopted practices of government secrecy, repeatedly contravening Akwa Ibom's fiscal responsibility law and potentially dismantling reforms that had established the state as a model for subnational transparency in Nigeria.
Legal Mandates for Transparency
The Akwa Ibom State fiscal responsibility law, codified in Volume III, Cap 56 of the state's 2022 Laws, clearly outlines the requirements for fiscal transparency. Section 47(1) mandates that the state conduct its financial affairs "in a transparent manner" and ensure "full and timely disclosure and wide publication of all transactions and decisions involving public revenues and expenditure and their implications for the economy."
Furthermore, Section 47(2) obligates all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), including local governments, to maintain functional online portals for disseminating essential fiscal information. This includes proposed and approved budgets, budget implementation reports, individual MDA performance reports, and audited financial statements. The state's own Standard Budget Calendar sets specific deadlines for making these documents publicly available.
Inherited Foundation of Fiscal Openness
Governor Eno inherited a state that had made significant strides in fiscal transparency. Following a critical assessment by the 2018 World Bank-supported State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability (SFTAS) program, which initially ranked Akwa Ibom poorly, the administration of his predecessor, Udom Emmanuel, embraced reforms. The state enacted fiscal laws to institutionalize responsibility and began publishing proposed budgets for public input before legislative approval. This practice extended to detailed quarterly Budget Implementation Reports (BPRs), debt management reports, audited financial statements, and citizens’ budgets.
These efforts yielded positive results. By 2020, Akwa Ibom was ranked first in the South-South region and fifth nationally on the Budget Transparency Index. By 2022, the state had risen to the top of Nigeria's fiscal transparency rankings. Recognizing this progress, Governor Eno, in the preface to the ARISE Agenda, pledged to "build upon the legacies of past administrations for faster and sustained development."
Promising Start, Followed by a Shift
In the initial months of Governor Eno's term, the administration appeared to uphold its commitment. In September 2023, a supplementary budget was presented, passed into law, and published on the state government's budget website.
However, this transparency did not persist. In November 2023, Policy Alert, a civil society organization focused on fiscal justice, reviewed the supplementary budget and raised concerns about what it termed "controversial projects." The group highlighted the reallocation of billions of naira to five projects already completed and inaugurated by the previous administration. It also criticized substantial allocations for furniture for lawmakers and the purchase of 180 SUVs and pickup trucks, despite similar provisions in the original budget.
Governor Eno dismissed these concerns as "frivolous," stating that his administration would not be distracted and that the people of Akwa Ibom would judge his performance. Nevertheless, sources within the Finance and Budget ministries suggested that this scrutiny prompted a strategic change in the administration's approach to budget disclosure.
According to these sources, the governor allegedly directed that proposed budgets would no longer be published before legislative approval, thereby limiting opportunities for public scrutiny and input from civil society and the media.
An Architecture of Secrecy
The consequences of this alleged directive are becoming increasingly evident. Unlike in previous years when proposed budgets were promptly uploaded after presentation to the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly, the 2024 proposed budget was published only in late January, weeks after its enactment. This pattern has been repeated with subsequent budgets, including the 2024 supplementary budget, the 2025 proposed budget, and the 2025 proposed supplementary budget. None of these documents are currently available on the state's official budget portal.
The 2025 Approved Supplementary Budget, signed by Governor Eno on October 8, 2025, was only published on December 19, 2025, just 12 days before the end of the fiscal year and a day after PREMIUM TIMES inquired about its absence. In stark contrast, records from 2020 to 2022, when fiscal reforms were more robust, show these documents were consistently made available online before approvals.
More concerning is the 2026 proposed budget, which was published in mid- January 2026, after the legislative process leading to its approval had concluded in 2025. This lack of timely access has prevented citizens from offering informed input, a concern previously voiced by Policy Alert and the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress during a public hearing.
Testing the Waters with the 2024 Citizens' Budget
A key reform under the SFTAS initiative was the Citizens' Budget, designed to simplify budget information for the public. The Akwa Ibom State Standard Budget Calendar mandates its publication by March each year. Under Governor Eno, compliance with this deadline has faltered.
Instead of a comprehensive document, such as the 61-page 2023 Citizens' Budget published by the previous administration, Governor Eno's government released a single-page document titled "2024 Citizens' Budget." This document lacked essential explanations and missed the March 31 deadline. Analysis using the Wayback Machine shows it was uploaded on May 14, 2024, 44 days late. Despite a report by TheMail newspaper on May 29, 2024, highlighting this omission, a complete version was never released. While a more detailed Citizens' Budget was published in 2025, the 2024 episode raised significant concerns.
Violating Budget Timelines
The fiscal responsibility law also dictates budget presentation timelines. Section 21 requires the State Executive Council to approve and submit the proposed annual budget to the House of Assembly by the end of October, allowing at least two months for review and public engagement.
Governor Eno has not adhered to this provision in the three budgets presented thus far. The 2024 budget was presented on November 21, 2023; the 2025 budget on November 26, 2024; and the 2026 appropriation bill on November 25, 2025. This contrasts sharply with the period between 2019 and 2022, when the state government largely met the October deadline, with only a minor seven-day delay in 2023.
During the 2020-2023 period, the appropriation bills were presented on October 8, 2019 (for 2020), October 20, 2020 (for 2021), October 25, 2021 (for 2022), and November 7, 2022 (for 2023).
This deviation from established timelines appears to be part of a broader trend of arbitrariness in the budget process. The Standard Budget Calendar specifies December as the deadline for the state assembly to review, pass, and present the following year's budget for the governor's assent. However, for the 2026 budget, this was disregarded, with the assembly passing it on January 1, 2026, and Governor Eno assenting on January 5, 2026. The approved 2026 budget had still not been published online as of mid-January 2026, contrary to the calendar's requirement.
Omission of Other Fiscal Documents
Beyond budget documents, other critical fiscal information is no longer being published on the Akwa Ibom State Government's web portals. For instance, the Domestic Debts report, a quarterly publication detailing the state's outstanding debts, lists the Second Quarter of 2023 (under the previous administration) as the last publication period.
Similarly, the Akwa Ibom State Fiscal Responsibility Board Annual Report, which assesses the State's Public Finance Management (PFM) system across various indicators, has not been updated beyond its 2023 publication. The 2024 Report of the Auditor General for Local Governments, concerning the accounts of the state's 31 local government areas, is also missing from the government's web portal.
Budget Performance Reports: Transparency Compromised
Quarterly Budget Performance Reports (BPRs) are crucial for fiscal accountability, enabling citizens to monitor revenue and spending. Governor Eno's administration continued publishing detailed BPRs until 2025. However, the format has now shifted from comprehensive reports, which previously exceeded 46 pages and provided detailed breakdowns by administrative, economic, functional, and program classifications, to three-page summaries for Q1, Q2, and Q3 of 2025.
This reduction in detail significantly limits citizens' ability to understand how public funds are utilized, including revenue sources and expenditure priorities across sectors like health and education versus administrative functions. When questioned, the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Linus Nkan, defended the abridged reports, stating that "we publish what is important and leave out what is not." He added that any classification or coding errors would be corrected by auditors at the end of the year, and that the published information was adequate.
Furthermore, Audited Financial Statements for 2023 and 2024, published under Governor Eno's administration, reportedly omit capital expenditures, such as spending on projects and programs. This practice, however, also appears to have been present in the previous administration's published audited statements.
Civil Society Pushback
On July 29, 2025, a coalition of 21 civil society organizations, including Policy Alert, issued a joint statement warning that Akwa Ibom's opaque reporting practices constituted a clear violation of the state's fiscal responsibility law. They urged the government to withdraw the Q2 2025 BPR, publish a comprehensive version, release historical reports with omitted details, and fully comply with transparency and procurement laws.
National data indicates that Akwa Ibom is the only state with an approved 2025 budget that has failed to publish detailed BPRs for three consecutive quarters. Most other states publish reports ranging from 12 to over 100 pages. For instance, Bauchi, Cross River, Delta, Ekiti, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Plateau, and Sokoto have provided detailed reports on capital expenditures for all projects and programs across their MDAs.
Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests Ignored
Beyond proactive disclosure, the law guarantees the right to request information. On December 1, 2025, an FOI request was submitted to the Commissioners for Finance and for Budget and Economic Planning, seeking the 2025 revised budget, proposed supplementary budget, and detailed BPRs. While acknowledged, these requests remain unfulfilled.
The fiscal responsibility law stipulates that failure to respond to such requests is an offense. Section 51 states that "Any person who refuses to give information to another upon a request made in the performance of a function imposed by this Law commits an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a term of confinement of not less than three months or a fine of not less than one hundred thousand naira or to both."
When contacted, the Commissioner for Finance, Emem Bob, directed inquiries to the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, despite his ministry's mandate including public expenditure transparency. He claimed that budget-related matters had been transferred to the Budget Ministry. He also stated that journalists required a written request for information, and despite an assurance to follow up on a December 1, 2025, FOI request, no response was received by the time of this report.
The Commissioner for Budget, Linus Nkan, was reportedly dismissive when contacted, telling the reporter to "Find out who you should make the enquiries to" before abruptly ending the call. He did not respond to subsequent attempts to reach him.
Weak Oversight and Mounting Risks
Akwa Ibom State has experienced a revenue surge in the past two years, prompting questions from residents about the utilization of these funds relative to development projects. Financial records indicate that the state has received approximately double the revenue of the preceding four-year period (2019-2022). However, Governor Eno's administration is seen as having little to demonstrate for it.
Analysis of state audited financial statements and budget performance reports shows that between July 2023 and September 2025, Governor Eno's administration received N2.227 trillion. In comparison, former Governor Emmanuel received a total of N1.18 trillion during his second term (2019-2022).
Regulatory Voices
Victor Edet, Director General of the state's Fiscal Responsibility Board, stated he was unaware that the 2024 board's annual report had not been published. He argued that the law does not specify the level of detail required for BPRs and expressed hope that legislative intervention would address existing gaps.
The Akwa Ibom House of Assembly has pledged to investigate the gaps in BPRs. Itoro Etim, Chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance, indicated that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning had submitted comprehensive BPRs for review. She assured that the committee would verify published reports and engage with relevant authorities to ensure immediate publication if found incomplete.
Regarding the non-publication of proposed and supplementary budgets, Ms. Etim stated that the committee would investigate and provide an update. The assembly's role is seen as critical in ensuring checks and balances on the executive.
Expert Opinion on Transparency Decline
BudgIT Foundation, a civil society organization promoting budget reforms, warns that the decline in fiscal transparency in Akwa Ibom signals a growing sense of impunity and risks leading to a complete absence of accountability in resource management. Vahyala Kwaga, BudgIT's Deputy Country Director, stated that a government's actions reflect its published information, and the failure to disclose timely and comprehensive fiscal documents suggests a reluctance towards accountability.
Kwaga emphasized that the departure from fiscal transparency could institutionalize opacity and negatively impact investment in the state, as potential investors might perceive the government's secrecy regarding its finances as a precursor to similar secrecy in investment dealings.
Akwa Ibom's Status in Open Government Partnership
Despite claims of being an open state, Akwa Ibom is among the nine Nigerian states that have not yet joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Out of 37 states and five local government areas, only 27 states and five LGAs have joined this global initiative, which aims to enhance governance through transparency, accountability, and civic participation.
Broader Implications of Opacity
A July 31, 2025, report by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) named Akwa Ibom among 16 states in Nigeria exhibiting administrative opacity and hindering access to information. The report noted that these states have not domesticated the FOI Act or established similar mechanisms for transparency and accountability.
The CJID's 2024 Openness Index, which surveyed over 1,100 professionals, categorized Akwa Ibom among states that do not proactively publish budgets, contracts, or policy documents, often ignore or delay FOI requests, and have under-resourced or politicized public information offices.
This lack of transparency, the report concluded, limits citizens' meaningful engagement with governance and erodes trust. Akwa Ibom ranked as the 12th least open state in Nigeria, with a score of 47.81%, below the national average of 50.51%.
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