The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is moving to improve the frequency and reliability of fiscal data from States and Local Governments, shifting from manual twice-yearly surveys to a digital platform expected to support quarterly reporting and strengthen economic policy decisions.
The initiative, which covers the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), is aimed at improving the timeliness, accuracy and consistency of information on government revenue, expenditure and financing activities across the country.
Speaking at a sub-national fiscal statistics stakeholders’ engagement in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Usman Moses Okpanachi, director of the CBN’s Statistics Department, said reliable fiscal statistics were critical to sound economic management and evidence-based policymaking.
He said timely information on public sector finances would enable policymakers to better assess revenue performance, expenditure patterns, financing requirements and fiscal pressures, as well as understand their implications for aggregate demand, liquidity, borrowing conditions and inflation.
The move comes as the CBN strengthens its forward-looking, data-dependent monetary policy framework and transitions towards a more explicit inflation-targeting regime, where timely and reliable economic information is important for policy formulation and forecasting.
According to Okpanachi, the existing sub-national fiscal survey, which relies largely on manual processes and is conducted twice a year, faces challenges relating to timeliness, logistics, data validation and processing.
He said digitalising the survey would address these limitations through standardised data entry, improved validation, simplified submissions and better monitoring of returns and corrections.
The platform is also expected to support more frequent and sustainable quarterly submissions, providing the CBN with a more consistent flow of fiscal information from states and local governments for economic analysis and policy decisions.
Improved fiscal data could help policymakers gain a clearer understanding of how government revenue and spending activities across the federation influence liquidity conditions and broader economic developments.
Okpanachi, however, stressed that technology would complement rather than replace proper record-keeping, reconciliation and professional judgement. He urged state and local government authorities to ensure prompt submission of returns, proper validation of information and the appointment of designated focal officers to maintain continuity.
He said the success of the initiative would be measured by more complete and consistent returns, faster submissions, improved validation and better fiscal information for decision-making.
The nationwide stakeholder engagement, which began on October 26, 2026, is expected to cover the remaining states by December 4, while the FCT is scheduled for December 9 and 10.
As of November 6, 16 states and their local governments had been covered, with strong government support and attendance reaching 100 percent in almost all the states visited.
The practical sessions are designed to equip state and local government fiscal officers with the skills to use the digital questionnaire, understand validation requirements and practise submission and correction procedures.
Following the exercise, trained officers are expected to transfer the knowledge to other personnel within their institutions and begin submitting fiscal returns through the digital platform.
The CBN’s Statistics Department will subsequently consolidate the implementation outcomes into a national report.
The initiative forms part of the apex bank’s broader data architecture and transformation agenda, which seeks to strengthen fiscal information for state and local government planning, budgeting and policy evaluation, while improving the quality of information available for monetary, financial and fiscal policy decisions.
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Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks.
She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings.
Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.
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