Both Ekiti and Osun State Governments have conducted Citizens’ Needs Assessments (CNA) to ensure that their State budgets are participatory and truly reflect the needs of citizens. The CNA, which was supported by the Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) Programme and the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, was first conducted in Ekiti State to: i) Understand the short, medium and long term needs of the citizens, and ii) Ensure no group’s needs were left out during budget preparation. Subsequently, in line with the desire of the Government of Osun State to improve the livelihood of its citizens, a Citizens Needs Assessment was also conducted with the support of the PERL Programme and DAWN Commission, facilitated by two staff from the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget in Ekiti State. Both staff from Ekiti State were part of the PERL- and DAWN-supported CNA process in the State. The objectives of the exercise in Osun State was the same, with an additional objective of gathering issues that could contribute to the development of a robust State Development Plan.