The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a digital fiscal reporting initiative covering the 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 local government areas to enhance the collection, accuracy and timely submission of government financial data.
The programme, being implemented through the bank’s Statistics Department, is expected to replace the largely manual Sub-National Fiscal Survey process and facilitate more frequent reporting of government revenue, expenditure and financing activities.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued by the apex bank on Tuesday, following the Sub-National Fiscal Statistics Stakeholders’ Engagement recently held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
According to the statement, the initiative is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic data framework by improving the timeliness, accuracy, consistency and precision of fiscal information used in monetary, fiscal and broader economic policy decisions.
Speaking at the engagement, the Director of the CBN’s Statistics Department, Dr Usman Okpanachi, said the digitalisation programme would improve fiscal data collection and provide more reliable information for economic policymaking.
He explained that the new system would tackle existing challenges through standardised data entry, improved validation, simplified submissions, better monitoring and traceable corrections. It would also support a transition to more regular and sustainable quarterly reporting.
Okpanachi noted that the previous survey relied mainly on manual procedures and was conducted twice a year, creating difficulties with reporting timelines, logistics, data validation and processing.
He said the digital platform would address these shortcomings and strengthen the link between fiscal transactions in ministries, departments and agencies, as well as local governments, and economic policy decisions.
The CBN director emphasised that dependable fiscal statistics were necessary for evaluating government revenue performance, expenditure patterns, financing needs and emerging fiscal pressures.
He added that the information would enable policymakers to assess how public-sector activities affect aggregate demand, liquidity, borrowing conditions and inflation.
The initiative comes as the CBN advances its forward-looking, data-dependent monetary policy framework and transitions towards a more explicit inflation-targeting regime.
Okpanachi maintained that the effectiveness of the reporting system would depend largely on the quality of information provided by participating institutions. He stressed that technology would support, rather than replace, proper record-keeping, reconciliation and professional judgement.
He called on state and local governments to submit fiscal returns promptly, ensure proper validation of financial records and appoint designated officers to coordinate reporting activities.
According to him, the implementation process must be guided by “timeliness, integrity and continuity,” with strong institutional commitment required to sustain the initiative.
He further explained that the programme’s performance would be assessed through improvements in the completeness and consistency of fiscal returns, faster submissions, stronger validation processes and the availability of better information for economic decisions.
The director also assured stakeholders that the bank would continue to provide technical and operational assistance through its branches and Statistics Department.
The CBN disclosed that the nationwide stakeholder engagement began on October 26, 2026, and was scheduled to cover the remaining states by December 4. Training sessions for the FCT were also scheduled for December 9 and 10.
As of November 6, the exercise had reached 16 states and their respective local governments, with attendance recorded at 100 per cent in almost all the states visited.
The practical training sessions are intended to familiarise fiscal officers with the digital questionnaire, validation requirements, submission procedures and processes for correcting reported information.
Following the sessions, participating officers are expected to share the knowledge acquired with colleagues in their respective institutions and commence submitting fiscal returns through the digital platform.
The Statistics Department will subsequently compile the outcomes of the implementation exercise into a national report.
The apex bank said the initiative forms part of its broader data transformation agenda, aimed at improving fiscal information for state and local government planning, budgeting and policy evaluation, while strengthening monetary, financial and fiscal policy decisions.
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