Five states will receive a combined $15 million in performance-based incentives under the World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme after emerging as the best-performing states in the implementation of key education and healthcare reforms.
The National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Programme, Assad Hassan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a retreat for commissioners, permanent secretaries and directors of budget and planning from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
This was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Communications Officer of the HOPE Governance Programme, Joe Mutah.
The programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, approved a total of $27 million in incentives for states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results under the programme.
The incentives are based on the findings and recommendations of the Interim Independent Verification Agent, which assessed states’ performance in meeting the programme’s Disbursement-Linked Indicators.
The statement read, “The World Bank-supported HOPE Governance Programme, domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, is set to disburse $27 million as performance-based incentives to states that successfully achieved the Year Zero Disbursement-Linked Results.”
A breakdown of the incentives showed that Bayelsa, Borno, Kano, Kebbi and Yobe states emerged as the biggest beneficiaries.
The five states will receive $1.5 million each for meeting the requirements under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.1, which focuses on the adoption of comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for state basic education budgets.
The same five states also qualified for another $1.5 million each under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.2, which measures the adoption of comprehensive guidelines for the preparation and submission of consolidated work plans for state primary healthcare budgets.
Together, the five states are expected to receive $15 million from the two indicators alone.
Under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 2.3, which centres on the adoption of harmonised budget guidelines and a chart of accounts by local governments, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno, Delta, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe states qualified for incentives of $500,000 each.
Similarly, under Disbursement-Linked Result (DLR) 4.1, which focuses on the publication of the 2025 Citizens Budget for basic education and primary healthcare by February 28, 2025, 15 states qualified for incentives.
The states are Abia, Bayelsa, Borno, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Plateau and Yobe.
Each of the states will receive $500,000.
