MRA Commends Government’s Budget Transparency Directive to Tertiary Institutions, Urges Extension to All MDAs

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has commended the weekend’s directive by the Federal Government instructing all Federal tertiary institutions to publish their budgetary allocations, other financial information and institutional data online, saying the move represents a critical step toward greater transparency and accountability in the education sector and demonstrates a laudable commitment to open governance.

The organization, however, urged the Federal Government to formally extend the directive to all its ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), arguing that “Transparency should not be selective. Making budgetary and other financial information of public institutions accessible to citizens across all sections of the public service is essential for fostering a culture of accountability, combating corruption, and promoting citizen engagement in governance.”

The Federal Ministry of Education issued a press statement on April 5, 2025, signed by Mrs. Folasade Boriowo, its Director of Press and Public Relations, in which it announced that the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has issued a directive mandating all Federal Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts to publish key institutional data on their official websites, effective immediately but no later than May 31, 2025, in an effort to “entrench transparency, accountability, and good governance in Nigeria’s tertiary education system.”

According to Mrs. Boriowo, each institution must provide, among other things, its annual budgetary allocation in full detail, including a breakdown of expenditure; disclose research grant revenues from the previous year, distinguishing between two sources such as grants obtained from domestic bodies and those received from international sources; and display its TETFund allocation for the current year, showing the total amount received as well as financial support for academic and infrastructural development.

In a statement issued in Lagos by its Programme Officer, Mr. Timileyin Adams, MRA praised the Ministry for the directive and the various measures outlined in the statement, urging it to ensure that it follows through on its pledge to conduct periodic reviews of institutional websites and take appropriate administrative actions against non-compliant institutions in order to enforce compliance. He stressed that the measures and their effective implementation would serve as a deterrent against corruption in Federal tertiary institutions and significantly contribute to improvements in service delivery in the education sector. 

Mr. Adams said: “But it is also necessary to extend these measures to other sectors of the public service. By mandating the online publication of budgetary and other financial information as well as key institutional data for all public institutions, the government will be taking a bold step that can empower citizens, foster public trust in government, and enable effective monitoring of public spending in all sectors of the public service. We believe that such an initiative will not only enhance institutional integrity but also help address issues of mismanagement and corruption that have long plagued many public institutions.”

Noting that Section 2(3) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011 has already provided the legal basis for such disclosures by making it mandatory for all public institutions to proactively publish their “information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds” as well as other institutional data, he argued that by expanding the directive to all other public institutions, the government will be reinforcing existing law, ensuring compliance with a crucial aspect of the FOI Act, and demonstrating genuine political will to uphold transparency across all sectors.

Mr. Adams called on the relevant oversight institutions, including the Budget Office of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation as well as the Attorney-General of the Federation, who has statutory responsibility for the implementation of the FOI Act, to ensure compliance with this directive and to support the creation of user-friendly platforms for public access to such data, saying that public participation in ensuring compliance and engagement with the information are imperative for building public trust in government and achieving the ultimate objective of the directive.

He reaffirmed MRA’s commitment to supporting initiatives that promote access to information, transparency, accountability, and democratic governance and urged the government to aim for the emergence of a fully open and accountable Federal public service.

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