By Boluwatife Oshadiya | June 30, 2026
Key Points
- World Bank-backed HOPE Governance Programme approves $27 million in performance-based incentives for Nigerian states
- Five states will receive the largest share after meeting education and primary healthcare reform benchmarks
- Programme rewards states that achieved governance and budgeting targets under its Year Zero performance assessment
Main Story
The World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme has approved $27 million in performance-based incentives for Nigerian states that successfully implemented key governance reforms in basic education and primary healthcare.
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, announced the incentive package during a retreat for commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
According to the programme, Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe emerged as the top-performing states after meeting the requirements under two key Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs) covering education and primary healthcare planning. Each state will receive $3 million—$1.5 million for each performance indicator—bringing their combined allocation to $15 million.
Nine additional states qualified for incentives under a separate governance indicator that measures the adoption of harmonised local government budget guidelines and a unified chart of accounts, while 15 states earned rewards for publishing their 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare within the programme’s stipulated timeline.
“The incentives are based on the findings and recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which carried out a rigorous assessment of states’ performances against the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Indicators,” Hassan said.
He noted that several participating states failed to qualify because they either missed the March 31, 2025 deadline, did not satisfy the programme’s performance requirements or failed to publish the required documents on their official websites.
The HOPE Governance Programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is a $500 million World Bank-supported initiative designed to strengthen financing, transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s basic education and primary healthcare sectors.
What’s Being Said
Programme Coordinator Assad Hassan said the incentive scheme is intended to encourage institutional reforms rather than one-off compliance exercises, stressing that stronger coordination among ministries, departments and agencies is essential for long-term success.
He identified weak institutional coordination as one of the main reasons many states failed to qualify for the incentives, warning that inadequate ownership of reforms could undermine their sustainability.
The programme also announced plans to implement a comprehensive capacity-building initiative to provide technical support to states and improve their ability to achieve future performance targets.
What’s Next
- The Interim Independent Verification Agent is expected to conclude the second phase of Year Zero verification by July 2026.
- The HOPE Governance Programme will begin implementing a technical capacity-building plan to help states improve compliance with future reform benchmarks.
- States that did not qualify for the initial incentives are expected to strengthen governance systems and meet subsequent performance indicators to access future disbursements.
Bottom Line:
The $27 million incentive package reinforces the growing shift towards performance-based financing in Nigeria’s public sector. For state governments, future access to development funding is increasingly likely to depend not only on policy commitments but also on measurable improvements in governance, transparency and service delivery.
