PERL, in collaboration with the OGP Secretariat and the World bank State Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) Performance for Result (PforR) Programme, has embarked on a series of dissemination of guidance materials for citizens groups and civil society organisations across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria in the last few weeks.

The SFTAS PforR provides technical assistance and capacity building to enable state governments to implement key Public Financial Management (PFM) reforms and reward states that successfully meet the disbursement linked results (DLRs) in accordance with best practice principles on fiscal transparency.

Although the SFTAS program has significantly increased the amount of information that the government makes available at the sub-national level, this increased transparency has not translated to a corresponding level of accountability in all states due to the relative lack of expertise of citizens and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to comprehend fiscal information and effectively use it to promote better use of public monies in the delivery of goods and services that cater to citizens' aspirations or perceived needs. Citizens and CSOs have a critical role in sustaining working processes (pushing to sustain reforms and initiate reforms) at the subnational level. This increased fiscal transparency also needs to be sustained beyond the SFTAS programme.

Hence, the aim of the dissemination series is to introduce the guide to participants. This guide, which was developed by FCDO-PERL and shared among various stakeholders for their inputs, is expected to enhance civic engagement and spur better utilisation of published fiscal data to demand transparency, accountability, and good governance. So far, the dissemination events have been held in Kano (North-west), and Rivers State (South-south). Four more sessions are expected to hold in Ibadan (South West), Bauchi (North East), Enugu (South East), and Abuja