The Akwa Ibom government spent over N201 billion out of N397.51 billion in the first quarter of 2026 but continues to withhold detailed revenue and expenditure data, deepening concerns over fiscal secrecy.
Akwa Ibom State Government expended N201.73 billion within the first three months of 2026, according to the state’s First Quarter Budget Performance Report of 2026, a document that once again exposes the administration’s opaque approach to financial reporting.
The report, reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, shows that the government received a total revenue of N163.26 billion between January and March, comprising N139.57 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), N23.59 billion in internally generated revenue, and N100 million under capital development fund receipts.
With an opening balance of N234.25 billion carried over from 2025, the state had N397.51 billion in revenue available for spending.
Out of this amount, the report states that N64.34 billion went into recurrent expenditure covering salaries, pensions, gratuities, and other running costs, while N137.39 billion was committed to capital projects and government programmes.
Despite the scale of expenditure, the government’s budget report offers scant details. Unlike earlier years when budget performance reports of the oil-rich state extended over 40 pages, with in-depth breakdowns of revenues and spending by ministry, economic sector, and programme, the Umo Eno administration has now restricted publication to five pages of aggregated data. This is a two page improvement from the three pages published throughout the 2025 fiscal year.
The report’s new additions, a rudimentary two-page summary of outlays in health and education fall short of the standard previously set by the state, which once published comprehensive sectoral and administrative data.
A review of budget reports published by other states and fiscal laws showed that the restricted fiscal disclosure by the administration breaches the state’s Fiscal Responsibility Law (Volume III, Cap 56, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2022).
The law explicitly requires “full and timely disclosure and wide publication” of all transactions involving public revenues and expenditures and their implications for the economy.
PREMIUM TIMES had earlier reported that under Governor Eno’s watch, Akwa Ibom has continued to slip deeper into fiscal secrecy, reversing the modest transparency gains achieved by preceding administrations.
Without disaggregated data, citizens are unable to track how much individual ministries generate or how government priorities are financed, and whether funds tilt towards critical sectors such as health and education or flow disproportionately to political and administrative offices.
