Nigeria’s States budgeted N88 billion for women empowerment, but 53% of the funds ended elsewhere

Four states budgeted N16.8 billion for Women affairs in 2024, but only implemented N1 billion.

Across Nigeria, state governments proudly announce billions in budget allocations meant to empower women, lift households out of poverty, and strengthen community livelihoods. But beneath these glossy figures lies a troubling pattern: the bulk of the money meant for women empowerment programmes rarely leaves the pages of the budget.

For years, state Ministries of Women’s Affairs have been positioned as the government’s primary vehicle for gender-focused development, traditionally receiving modest budgets that were at least predictable in scale and scope. As allocations ballooned in the last five years—driven by political pledges, increased oil revenues, and federal allocations, donor influence, and growing advocacy for gender-responsive budgeting—the expectation was that implementation would improve accordingly. But the reverse has been the case as some states end up spending even less on women empowerment.

BudgIT’s review of 2024 fiscal performance across states exposes just how deep this accountability black hole runs. Out of a combined N88.252 billion budgeted for the ministries of women affairs, less than half was released – N41.857 billion. The picture becomes more gross when you zoom in on the numbers.

According to the just-released State of Women’s Economic Empowerment in Nigeria report, only 12 of the 36 states recovered 50% or above in their performance. Yobe state spent N234 million out of the N253 million budgeted for women’s affairs, making it the best performer with 92.64%, but in terms of actual amount spent, it falls among the bottom eight states.

Lagos State stands out with its 87% performance, spending N4.2 billion of the N4.89 billion budgeted for women’s affairs. Delta State also performed impressively, implementing N1.55 billion out of the N1.7 billion budgeted for women’s affairs in 2024.

The worst performances are seen in Adamawa, Rivers, Anambra, and Ondo states, where less than 10% of the budgeted funds for women-related projects were released in 2024. Adamawa only spent N217.99 million out of a massive N4.47 billion budgeted for Women Affairs, making for an unimpressive 4.88% budget performance.

Ondo state budgeted N7.447 billion but only implemented N533 million, while Anambra state only implemented N160.8 million out of N2.37 billion allocated. In the case of Rivers State, although the Ministry of Women’s Affairs showed a low overall implementation rate (6.32%), the report specifically noted that a significant N1.8 billion allocated towards interventions and programs for women’s businesses was not implemented.

Notably, many states failed to publish granular budget breakdowns or beneficiary data, making it nearly impossible to track where funds go—or whether the women they were meant for ever saw the benefits. For instance, one might be curious to know where the funds budgeted for the provision of sewing machines for Women Empowerment in Ukanafun/Oruk Anam Local Government Area went to, seeing as it was never released for the set purpose.

BudgIT notes that the prevailing situation across these states indicates that bulk of the funds meant for women empowerment gets trapped in administrative bottlenecks, and never reach the intended purpose.

Data from the World Economic Forum estimates that it will take until the year 2158 to reach full gender parity at the current rate of progress globally, but with Nigerian states having a below-average budget performance for women-related projects, it could take even longer here in Nigeria.

Just two months ago, Nigeria’s Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim reiterated at the 2025 Gender and Inclusion Summit (GS-25) that Nigeria cannot continue to regard women empowerment as a charity case.

With women making up more than half of Nigeria’s growing population, empowering women has become a macroeconomic necessity, she said, key to unlocking an additional $229 billion in GDP by 2030.

Every International Women’s Day celebration, Nigerians join the rest of the world to call for Women’s empowerment globally, but if any real change will occur, BudgIT warns that all levels of government must take steps to ensure effective disbursement of funds allocated to women-related projects and programmes.

Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon is a seasoned journalist and communications strategist with over a decade of experience telling impactful stories across environment, technology, entrepreneurship, business, and political economy. At BusinessDay, she leads editorial partnerships and content initiatives that deepen public understanding and spark meaningful conversations on issues shaping Nigeria’s socio-economic landscape. She holds an MSc in Mass Communication from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a BSc in Mass Communication from Delta State University.

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