THE Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) has emerged as the highest-ranked federal institution in the 2026 Transparency and Integrity Index (TII), while hundreds of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) recorded low scores.
NIPC scored 84.14 per cent to lead the 518 federal institutions assessed by the Centre for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity (CeFTPI).
The Centre’s 2026 report was unveiled on Monday, September 28, in Abuja, in the presence of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dasuki Ibrahim Arabi; and representatives of several other MDAs and civil society organisations.
The ICIR reported that Kaduna State emerged as Nigeria’s highest-ranked state in the TII, scoring 54.68 per cent, while Niger State ranked lowest with 10.86 per cent.
In the MDAs ranking, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) followed with 80.13 per cent, while the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) ranked third with 78.43 per cent.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) completed the top six with 73.22 per cent, 68.65 per cent and 60.87 per cent respectively.
The findings showed that transparency remains weak across large parts of the federal public sector, with most institutions recording low scores.
The assessment examined whether public institutions disclose information on their finances, procurement, human resources, anti-corruption measures, and mechanisms for engaging citizens.
It further examined whether institutions publish budget and financial records, procurement and contract information, recruitment and staff details, anti-corruption and whistleblowing policies, as well as mechanisms that allow citizens to obtain information and participate in public processes.
Only six institutions score above 50%
The report classified scores below 45 per cent as “very poor”, 45–49 per cent as “poor”, 50–59 per cent as “good”, 60–69 per cent as “very good”, and 70–100 per cent as “excellent.”
Only eight of the 518 institutions assessed scored above 50 per cent.
NIPC led with 84.14 per cent, followed by ICPC with 80.13 per cent, and DBN with 78.43 per cent.
NOSDRA scored 73.22 per cent, while TETFund and NDIC recorded 68.65 per cent and 60.87 per cent respectively.
The 2026 results represent a shift from the previous year’s ranking. In 2025, 575 institutions were assessed, with NOSDRA leading with 78.84 per cent, followed by NIPC with 78.21 per cent, and ICPC with 78.13 per cent.
NIPC therefore moved from second place in 2025 to first in 2026, with its score rising by 5.93 percentage points.
ICPC also improved by two percentage points, from 78.13 to 80.13 per cent.
DBN recorded one of the largest improvements among the leading institutions, rising from 62.60 per cent and fourth place in 2025 to 78.43 per cent and third place in 2026.
NOSDRA, which topped the 2025 ranking, dropped to fourth position in 2026, with its score falling from 78.84 to 73.22 per cent.
TETFund also improved from 54.12 per cent in 2025 to 68.65 per cent in 2026, maintaining its fifth position, while NDIC entered the top six with 60.87 per cent.
Bank of Industry, which ranked sixth in 2025 with 51.29 per cent, fell outside the top six in 2026 with a score of 57.56 per cent.
Despite the improvement recorded by several leading institutions, the overall findings indicate that high levels of transparency remain concentrated among a small number of public institutions.
Ministries perform poorly
The performance of federal ministries was significantly weaker than that of the leading institutions.
Of the ministries listed in the 2026 assessment, the Ministry of Defence ranked highest with 33.17 per cent, followed by the Ministry of Finance with 25 per cent and the Ministry of Women Affairs with 22.33 per cent.
The Ministry of Justice scored 18.50 per cent.
The Ministries of Education, Aviation, Foreign Affairs and Environment each scored 17 per cent, while the Ministry of Information and Culture recorded 16.17 per cent.
The Federal Capital Territory scored 16.14 per cent. The ICIR had in 2023 reported that the FCTA was notorious in disregarding freedom of information requests sent to it.
The Ministries of Health and Social Welfare and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development each recorded 15.83 per cent.
Several institutions, including the Ministries of Industry, Trade and Investment; Interior; Niger Delta Affairs; Transportation; and Works and Housing, recorded 14.50 per cent.
The low scores among ministries are consistent with the pattern observed in the 2025 index, which also recorded weak performance among several key federal ministries.
In the 2025 assessment, the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources, and Youth and Sports Development each scored zero per cent, while the Ministries of Power, Works and Housing, Health, and Defence also recorded low scores.
The 2026 assessment similarly shows that the highest-performing ministry, Defence, scored only 33.17 per cent, leaving all assessed ministries below the 45 per cent threshold for a “very poor” rating.
The report, therefore, shows that while some agencies recorded significant improvements in transparency, disclosure remains substantially weaker across federal ministries and a large number of government institutions.
In the bottom are National Tuberculosis and Leorosy Training Center, Zaria; Nigerian Coal Corporation, Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, FCE Kontagora, Niger; and Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M