Introducing State Budget Details by Programme

Introducing State Budget Details by Programme

We are excited to announce an expansion to the NGF public finance database. Now, you can explore State government budget data not just by who is spending (administrative segment) or what is being spent on (economic segment), or what is the purpose of the spending (functional segment) but also by specific programmes (programme segment) based on the National Chart of Accounts (NCoA).

What the Public Finance Database captures:

1. Administrative Segment – who is spending the money? ✔
2. Economic Segment – what is the money being spent on? ✔
3. Functional Segment – what is the purpose of the expenditure? ✔
4. Programme Segment – how does the expenditure help achieve policy priorities?✔
5. Fund Segment – who is funding the expenditure (where is the money coming from)?
6. Location Segment – where is the benefit of the expenditure?

In November 2023, public finance and sector experts from the federal and state levels came together in Abuja, Nigeria for an Expenditure and Institutional Review (EIR) & Programme-Based Budgeting Workshop. The workshop focused on health, education, and agriculture programme budgeting at the sub-national level, leading to a consensus on how best to categorize government spending priorities in these critical sectors.

The aim of the programme segment within the Budget Classification System (BCS) or Chart of Accounts (COA) is twofold – firstly, it is the mechanism for linking policies and plans to budgets and actual expenditures (accounts). Within the Nigerian context, this will link the National Development Plan (NDP) and State Development Plans (SDPs) to Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSSs, or equivalent), and finally to Budgets (and financial statements).

Secondly, in the absence of a standalone project segment classification (some countries have a project segment in addition to, or in place of, the programme segment), the programme segment should be capable of providing a unique identifier (code) to every capital expenditure project in the budget. This allows for easier tracking and reporting of projects, particularly those that span more than one budget year.

What this means for users:

• Deeper Dive: Analyse State budgets with new details, seeing exactly where resources are allocated across key programmes.
• Improved Transparency: Gain a clearer picture of government spending priorities across different States.
• Informed Decisions: Use this data to support research, policymaking, and advocacy efforts.

The public finance database now covers the period, 2018–2024.

Later in the year, we’ll be releasing three (3) expenditure and institutional reviews to provide comprehensive insights into how government resources are allocated, and utilised in the health, education, and agriculture sectors at the sub-national level.

Written by David Nabena, Chief Economist, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abuja.