HOPE GOV

On Tuesday, 31 March 2026, the HOPE Governance Programme National Programme Coordination Unit (NPCU) held a strategic meeting with the UBEC HOPE-GOV Team to review progress, address key implementation issues, and strengthen coordination mechanisms for the effective delivery of the Programme.

Discussions focused on the UBEC HOPE-GOV site linked to the UBEC website, particularly its content and functionality; the status of ex*****on of Subsidiary Legal Agreements by States; readiness for verification and disbursement; activities and plans aligned with Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs); and preparations for the forthcoming HOPE-GOV Mission scheduled for 13–30 April 2026.

FG Ramps Up Efforts to Sign Subsidiary Agreement With States To Participate in $500m HOPE Governance Program

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Deborah O. N. Odoh, has stated that the Ministry is collaborating closely with the Federal Ministry of Finance to ensure that all 36 states of the Federation sign the Subsidiary Loan Agreement that would enable them to participate in and benefit from the World Bank-assisted HOPE Governance Program, aimed at improving service delivery in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors.

Dr. Deborah Odoh made this remarks in Abuja on Wednesday when she received the HOPE Governance Team from the World Bank on a courtesy visit to her office.

“We have been strategising with the Federal Ministry of Finance with the involvement of our Honourable Minister Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu. We will put in extra efforts to make it happen even faster given the time constraints. We have a timeline drawn up recently to achieve this,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary pledged to provide all the necessary institutional support to ensure that HOPE Governance delivers significant impact across the country.

“I’m glad we are having this meeting, which is long overdue and certainly we are here all the time. We expect to see more tangible results and impact shortly,” she said.

The World Bank Task Team Leader, HOPE Governance Program, Ikechukwu John Nweje, had earlier appealed to the Permanent Secretary to utilise all available channels within the Ministry to engage state governments and secure the signing of the Agreement, thereby enabling them to access funds under the Program upon verification of the Disbursement-Linked Results.

“However you can help us to fast track these processes, this will really be appreciated to get this program up and running in terms of disbursement,” he said.

He stressed that governance remains a key challenge to improved service delivery in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors, which is why the Federal Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, has initiated the HOPE Governance Program to address the issue.

“If the governance part fails, we will continue to have the same problems we are having on the sectoral side. That is why the ministers prioritised governance because they found out that governance is the issue in the two sectors that will help to unlock the ability to deliver results,” he stated.

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the HOPE Governance Program, Dr. Assad Hassan, stated that the meeting was convened with the World Bank to apprise the Permanent Secretary of the milestones recorded and the challenges encountered in the implementation of the Program so far.

The HOPE Governance Program is a $500 million World Bank-assisted initiative domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, aimed at promoting good governance in the administration of basic education and primary healthcare in Nigeria.

Joe Mutah
Communications Officer
HOPE Governance Program
26th March, 2026

HOPE-GOV Program Seeks ALGON’s Support on Budgeting Reforms in Local Governments

On Tuesday, 17th February 2026, the HOPE-GOV National Program Coordination Unit (NPCU) paid an implementation coordination visit to the National Headquarters of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON). During the visit, the National Coordinator, Dr. Assad Hassan, sought ALGON’s strategic support, collaboration, and guidance toward the successful implementation of the Program.

Dr. Assad emphasized that the HOPE-GOV Program is not merely a federal reform initiative but a comprehensive effort to strengthen governance systems across states and local governments to achieve measurable improvements in the delivery of basic education and primary healthcare services. He noted that ALGON plays a critical role in this regard, as local governments constitute the frontline of service delivery in both sectors.

He further stated that the Program will collaborate closely with ALGON to institutionalize sustainable governance reforms at the third tier of government - the level closest to the people - in order to deliver meaningful and lasting impact on citizens’ lives.

A key component of the initiative is the transition of local government budgeting systems from routine expenditure planning to a performance-driven, transparent, and accountable framework aligned with measurable service delivery outcomes. This reform will also ensure the adoption of the National Chart of Accounts in local government budgeting processes.

Joe Mutah
Communications Officer
HOPE-GOV
Tuesday, 17th February, 2026

The National Program Coordination Unit (NPCU) of World Bank–assisted Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity -Governance (HOPE-GOV) Program domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning engages the Nigeria Governors‘ Forum (NGF) on the implementation of governance reforms in the basic education and primary healthcare service delivery across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

States to Publish Quarterly Basic Education, Primary Health Contract Awards under FG, World Bank Collaboration

In line with its commitment to transparency in public procurement, the World Bank–assisted Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE-GOV) Program of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is working with State Governments to ensure the quarterly publication of contract award information for procurements in the basic education and primary healthcare sectors, within 30 days of the end of each quarter.

The National Coordinator of the HOPE-GOV Program, Dr. Assad Hassan, disclosed this at the first Implementation Support Meeting of 2026 with State Focal Persons, held virtually on Monday in Abuja preparatory for the First Year Verification by Independent Verification Agents.

He explained that the information must be published on State Government websites to enable verification by the Independent Verification Agents, as a prerequisite for the disbursement of incentive funds to the States.

Dr. Assad said minimum contract award information to be published include Project Name; Awarding Institution; Award Date; Name of Contractor and Contract Amount.

“For MDAs without e-procurement, the Independent Verification Agents (IVAs) will obtain schedule of all contracts awarded above threshold (as defined in state procurement law or regulations) and confirm whether disclosures on state official website are compliant with Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) format.

“For MDAs with e-Procurement, the IVAs will obtain schedule of all contracts awarded during year before and after go-live and confirm that State has online portal established to record and publish data on all processes in procurement cycle, for all transactions initiated after go-live resulting in a contract award and confirm whether data published is in line with OCDS,” he said.

Dr. Assad said States are also required to publish Financial Year 2026 citizen’s budget for basic education and primary healthcare by 28 February 2026.

He listed minimum details to be confirmed by IVAs in Citizens Budget as sources of revenues; domestic and foreign grants and loans, other financing sources; total expenditure by functions of government segment with identifiable functions for Basic Education and Primary Health Care; total expenditure by health policy (Programme) segment with identifiable programmes for Basic Health and Primary Health Care and functions and programmes linked to respective economic classifications.

He said others are: budget framework including total revenue and grants, total expenditures, budget deficit, budget financing and financing gap; breakdown of expenditures by sectors and ministries as well as lists of large capital projects and geolocations.

According to the National Coordinator, under the HOPE GOV Program, States are mandated to publish the Financial and Performance Audits of Basic Education and and Primary Health Care submitted to State Assemblies and published at specific dates.

Additionally, Dr. Assad said biometric capture and BVN data of 80% of Basic Education and Primary Health Care workers in the States’ public service are to be completed and linked to payroll in order to identify ghost workers and take them off the payroll.

He announced that States are currently being engaged to strengthen their institutional arrangements to ensure diligent implementation of the HOPE-GOV Program in order to achieve maximum results.

100 persons from across all the States of the federation participated in the virtual meeting.

Joe Mutah
Communications Officer
HOPE-GOV
Tuesday, 27th January, 2026

L-R: Acting Secretary of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, Dr. Aishatu Abubakar Bajoga; National Coordinator HOPE-GOV Program, Dr. Assad Hassan; Outgoing Secretary of the Fund, Dr. Ogbe Oritseweyimi and the Project Accountant of HOPE-GOV, Mr. Hakeem Ibrahim during the Implementation Support Visit of HOPE-GOV National Program Coordination Unit to the Fund in Abuja on Friday

World Bank-Assisted HOPE-GOV Program, Basic Health Care Provision Fund Collaborate on Primary Healthcare Reforms

The National Coordinator of the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity-Governance (HOPE-GOV) Program, a World Bank–assisted initiative of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Assad Hassan, has stated that the Program is designed to incentivise implementing agencies, which include State Governments to institutionalise reforms in budgeting and expenditure management within Nigeria’s primary healthcare and basic education sectors.

Dr. Assad stated this in Abuja on Friday when he led the National Program Coordination Unit (NPCU) of the HOPE-GOV Program on an implementation coordination visit to the Ministerial Oversight Committee Secretariat of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF MOC).

“For us it is not just about dishing out the money but if you look at the scope of the Program, it's talking about reforms. Beyond the incentives that our implementing agencies are going to get, the Health Sector in particular is going to benefit from the reforms that the Program is going to achieve,” he said.

According to Dr. Assad, the visit forms part of efforts targeted at implementing agencies to strengthen coordination and provide the support required to achieve the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs).

“This is something we usually do for all our implementing agencies. It means the people that we are responsible for in terms of the Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs) and the Disbursement-Linked Results (DLRs). Specifically, the States, BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee Secretariat as well as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) at the Federal level. From time-to-time we engage so that we provide implementation support, coordination as well as support to ensure that our implementing agencies are able to achieve their results.

“It is the wish and the vision of the NPCU that all our implementing agencies get to achieve all the incentives that are required,” he stated.

Dr. Assad added that first Coordination Meeting with State HOPE-GOV Focal Persons will hold on Monday next week in order to bolster implementation of the Program and alignment across participating states.

He stated that the Program is currently evaluating the engagement of Independent Verification Agents to assess the performance of implementing agencies for the first year of reform implementation, towards disbursement of incentives.

In his presentation on the occasion, the HOPE-GOV Program Officer, Mr. Jamil Abdallah, said the Program is a $500 million package that would be disbursed to the implementing agencies upon achieving the Disbursement-Linked Results.

“For the HOPE-Governance, as we are all aware, it's a Program for Results (PforR), where $500 million is actually earmarked for the Program whereby $480 million is for the PforR that is going to implementing agencies and States and the remaining $20 million is for Investment Project Financing, which is going to be used for program coordination, fiduciary management, capacity building, which is the technical assistance as well as verification of results and Monitoring and Evaluation,” he said.

Mr. Abdallah itemised the Results Areas to qualify for the disbursement as: Increased availability and effectiveness of financing for basic education and primary healthcare service delivery; Enhanced transparency and accountability for basic education and primary healthcare financing and Improved recruitment, deployment, and performance management of basic education teachers and primary health care workers by federal, state and local governments.

The Program Officer also emphasised that International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)–compliant annual audited financial statements of implementing agencies - covering sources and uses of funds (or receipts and payments), appropriations for the year under review, actual expenditures and balances against appropriations, comparative actual expenditures for the preceding year, and all required disclosure notes under the applicable financial reporting framework - must be published on their official websites within the prescribed timeframes.

He stated that all 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory have signed on to participate in the Program.

In her remarks, the Acting Secretary of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund Secretariat, Dr. Aishatu Abubakar Bajoga, pledged to work together with the HOPE-GOV Program to achieve the objectives set out for them.

“We are ready to work together and hopefully, it's a work in progress from now on. Thank you,” she said.

A major highlight of the visit was an interactive session between members of the HOPE-GOV National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, led by its outgoing Secretary, Dr. Ogbe Oritseweyimi, aimed at comparing notes on strategies for achieving the Fund’s Disbursement-Linked Indicators (DLIs).

Joe Mutah
Communications Officer
HOPE-GOV Program

NPCU Holds Coordination Meeting with State Focal Persons

The National Program Coordination Unit (NPCU) of the HOPE GOV Program is to host a virtual coordination meeting with State Focal Persons as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen implementation and alignment across participating states.

The meeting will focus on reaffirming key activities and timelines outlined in the Verification Protocol, as the Program approaches its first major milestone on 31 January 2026. Participants will also be briefed on important administrative updates from the NPCU to support effective program delivery.

The session, which comes up on Monday, 26th January, 2026 @ 11am, will be enriched by the participation of colleagues from the HOPE-PHC/SWAP team, underscoring the program’s commitment to collaboration, coherence, and inter-program synergy.

The engagement reaffirmed a shared commitment to ensuring a successful and impactful implementation year in 2026.

Happy New Year, Nigeria!

2026 is the year HOPE GOV moves from promise to performance.

We begin the year with Independent Verification Agents assessing Year Zero results across States, unlocking the first round of results-based disbursements. This means more funding, stronger transparency, and better governance for basic education and primary healthcare.

What HOPE-GOV is delivering in 2026:

• Smarter and increased financing for schools and primary health care centres

• Open budgets, published audits, and transparent procurement

• More teachers and primary healthcare workers where they are most needed, backed by payroll integrity

• Stronger coordination across Federal, State, and Local Governments

• Deeper media and citizen engagement to keep Nigerians informed and involved

HOPE-GOV is about results, accountability, and people, ensuring public funds translate into classrooms that function and primary healthcare centres that deliver quality care.

New Year. New Momentum.

FG, World Bank Implement $500 Million HOPE-Governance Program to Strengthen Basic Education and Primary Healthcare

The Federal Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, is implementing the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity–Governance (HOPE-GOV) Program, a US$500 million credit facility designed to improve financial and human resource management in basic education and primary healthcare.

The National Coordinator of the HOPE-Governance Program, Dr. Assad Hassan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Deborah O. N. Odoh, where the HOPE-Governance Program is domiciled.

“In terms of program financing and scope, it’s a World Bank assisted credit of $500 million, which is split into two components. One is the Program for Result while the second is Investment Project Financing.

“$480 million is earmarked to incentivize the States to achieve the Disbursement Linked Results in the two sectors while $20 million Investment Project Financing component has three key areas for implementation. One is program coordination, second is verification of results at the state level as well as monitoring and evaluation and third is technical assistance for implementing agencies i.e. the states, UBEC, Ministerial Oversight Committee of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning,” he said.

Dr. Assad identified the program’s key focus areas as increasing financing for the two sectors, enhancing transparency and accountability in budgeting and audit for basic education and primary healthcare, and supporting the recruitment of teachers and primary healthcare workers to address manpower gaps in both sectors.

“For HOPE-Governance, our primary objective is to see how we improve financial and human resource management in these two sectors by focusing on three key areas: the first is increase in funding for the two sectors. In this regard, we are working with the Universal Basic Education Commission as well as the Ministerial Oversight Committee, Basic Health Care Provision Fund in the Federal Ministry of Health and their counterparts at the states level.

“Then the second key area is enhance transparency and accountability in budget for both sectors, audit report, citizens format budget. Basically is about public financial management in the two sectors.

“Then the third and final area. We want to see improved recruitment and retention of teachers as well as primary health workers,” he stated.

According to Dr. Assad Hassan, the states have six Disbursement Linked Indicators, which would be tracked by the HOPE-Governance Program and appraised by Independent Verification Agents before funds are released to the states.

Providing the historical background of the Program, the National Coordinator explained that the World Bank approved the HOPE-GOV Program on 26 September 2024, following the successful negotiation of the Financing Agreement in August 2024.

He added that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) granted approval in February 2025, the Financing Agreement was countersigned by the Federal Government in April 2025, and the Program was subsequently declared effective in September 2025.

He stated that, to date, all 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have expressed interest in participating in the Program, and the Subsidiary Agreements have been dispatched to the states for signing.

The National Coordinator clarified that under the Program for Result, the state governments are expected to invest in the Disbursement Linked Indicators and they get incentivized by the Program.

“The way the Program is designed, you achieve something this year and you get incentivized so that you put that money back to work on the second year results,” he said.

He said the Program will soon hire Interim Verification Agents who would verify the first year results by the state governments.

In her response, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Deborah O. N. Odoh, expressed her readiness to support to the Program to attain its objectives.

She also commended the Programme for the achievements recorded within its short period of implementation.

Joe Mutah
Communications Officer
HOPE-Governance Program
Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning of Nigeria

HOPE GOV NPCU Virtual Briefing on HOPE-PHC Annual Operational Plan (AOP) 2026

Today, Friday, 5th December, 2025, the HOPE-GOV National Programme Coordination Unit held a virtual coordination meeting with HOPE-PHC to review the implementation strategy of the Annual Operation Plans at the State level and identify critical areas of convergence, with the aim of enhancing effective service delivery in Nigeria’s primary health care sector.

We reflected on the context and priorities of HOPE-PHC for the upcoming year.