- List includes 19 Ministers, 37 Perm Secs, 20 Heads of Agencies
- Endorses launch new LGA transparency tool
BY COBHAM NSA – In a major push for grassroots transparency, the Executive Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Dr. Abdullahi Usman Bello, has hailed the newly launched Local Governance Accountability (LGA) Portal as a vital breakthrough for tracking public funds across Nigeria.
This is as the Bureau also disclosed tightening the noose on public corruption by officially wrapping up asset verification for 108 high-risk figures, covering 19 ministers, 37 permanent secretaries, 20 heads of agencies, and 32 other high-risk officials
Additionally, the CCB said no fewer than five local government chairmen in the country have been investigated in connection with the utilisation of funds with the Chairman describing the digital platform as a potent instrument capable of transforming oversight and enforcing accountability at the municipal and grassroots levels for good governance.
The digital portal breaks new ground by granting the public free, unrestricted access to historical data, including financial allocations disbursed to local councils from 1999 to date. Alongside fiscal tracking, the database provides detailed council profiles and the names of elected officials, empowering ordinary citizens with unprecedented access to information.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja during the closing ceremony of the Policy Writing Fellowship, the CCB boss said unlocking these localized records strips away the secrecy surrounding grassroots governance, providing a robust mechanism for citizens to monitor and hold their local leaders accountable
According to him, the CCB believes that sustainable national development and the fight against corruption must begin with strong, accountable local governance, noting that the portal will empower citizens, researchers, journalists, and civic actors to monitor public resources and demand better service delivery — directly supporting our collective efforts to entrench integrity and ethical conduct in public service.
While congratulating the more than twenty individuals, who have successfully completed the intensive four-month training programme, the CCB Chairman said, “Your dedication, intellectual rigour, and the policy papers you have produced under the guidance of your supervisors are truly commendable. You represent the kind of thoughtful, evidence-driven leadership Nigeria needs as we work to build stronger institutions and improve the lives of our citizens”.
Bello, who appreciated Agora Policy, with the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation, for this visionary initiative, stressed that their
commitment to strengthening an evidence-driven, inclusive, and robust approach to policy making and policy engagement is both timely and impactful, adding that as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen integrity and accountability in public service, the CCB has completed verification of asset declarations for high-risk public servants.
“As part of our enforcement drive, the Bureau has also secured the forfeiture of several assets, including a property in London. We have referred numerous cases to the Code of Conduct Tribunal, and just yesterday we arraigned the Chief of Staff to a State Governor before the Tribunal. These actions demonstrate our firm resolve to hold public officers accountable regardless of their position or status”, Bello said.
In appreciating the organisers for the kind invitation and the excellent work in advancing Nigeria’s policy landscape, the CCB Chairman challenged the graduating fellows to carry forward the spirit of inquiry, integrity, and public service in all their future endeavours, stressing that the knowledge, skills, and networks they have gained should be deployed to address the nation’s challenges and to strengthen governance at every level.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, who delivered a keynote address at the event, said Nigeria has never lacked strategic blueprints, committees, reform papers or shortage of ideas across sectors, but identified the core problem as a lack of disciplined execution.
She said the true challenge of governance is translating ideas into measurable realities for citizens, explaining that the most difficult task remains converting these ideas into priorities, priorities into functional institutions, and institutions into actual implementation.
The Presidential Aide noted that addressing this critical gap in the public sector is the central challenge of governance and a primary opportunity for policy scholars, civic actors, and public officials to drive tangible improvements, arguing that democracy is not exhausted by elections, procedures or institutions, but is sustained by participation, communication, shared responsibility, and the continuous engagement of citizens in the affairs that shape their lives.
While applauding Agora Policy for graduation of the second cohort of the Policy Writing Fellowship and the official unveiling of the Local Governance Accountability Portal and Policy Registry, she said policy-making is a critical skill set for nation building, sustainable development and global competitiveness.
In his welcome remarks, the Founder and Executive Director of Agora Policy, Mr. Waziri Adio said if the country was really interested in good governance and development, it must not continue to ignore happenings at the local councils, noting that the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution spells out their functions which are not trivial.
Adio, who noted that adequate financial provisions have been made for the 774 local councils, which is 20.60 per cent of FAAC allocations, 35 per cent of Value Added Tax (VAT), 10 per cent of states’ internally generated revenues (IGRs), apart from their own internal revenues, said: “Enormous resources are pouring into our LGAs, especially in the last three years. From FAAC alone, the least allocation to an LGA is about N500m monthly. Alimosho LGA received N4.9 billion for January 2026 alone.
“One of the best resourced local councils in the world in terms of percentage of total government revenue, only after Switzerland. But our LGAs are almost a black hole, and as a result where the government should be closest to the people, where government should be felt the most, is where it is absent the most.
“We are not without blame: what is not actively demanded will not be consistently supplied. The LGA portal is our humble contribution to changing the direction of travel: designed to empower citizens, civic group, the media and others with the tools to actively hold those in charge at the local level to account.
“Data is important, but agency is more important. Data without agency is just a set of numbers. And we are not without agency. We are not hapless or helpless. If we want better governance at the local level, we need to demand it, and doing it with evidence will surely help.”
Meanwhile, Agora Policy on Thursday, 25 June 2026 graduated the second set of its Policy Writing Fellowship and launch the Local Governance Accountability (LGA) portal and the Policy Registry, two digital platforms designed to enhance transparency, accountability and the quality of policymaking and policy conversation in Nigeria.
