Babagana Umara Zulum, Governor of Borno State, has been ranked among Nigeria’s top-performing governors in the 2025 Governance Accountability and Transparency Index (GATI), a report assessing transparency, accountability and responsible management of public resources by state governments.
The report, unveiled in Abuja on March 13, 2026, listed Zulum alongside nine other state governors recognised for demonstrating strong commitment to transparent governance, accountability and people-focused leadership.
The annual index is produced by the Guild of Online Media Editors and Publishers (GOMEP), an umbrella body comprising more than 75 online media editors and publishers nationwide. The initiative is aimed at strengthening democratic governance by evaluating the performance of Nigeria’s 36 state governments while reinforcing the media’s watchdog role on issues of governance, social justice and public interest.
Presenting the report, GOMEP National President, Dozie Nwankodu, said the evaluation adopted five internationally recognised methodologies to assess governance performance across the states.
According to him, Borno State improved on its 2024 ranking in the “Exceptional Performance” category, raising its Average Index Point from 86.3 to 89.7 in the 2025 report—an increase of 3.4 points representing a 3.94 per cent improvement.
Governance analysts attributed the improved ranking to reforms introduced under Zulum’s administration, including the early implementation of financial autonomy for local governments in the state.
Over the past seven years, the administration has reportedly executed more than 1,500 capital-intensive projects across the state’s 27 local government areas. It has also facilitated the voluntary return of over one million internally displaced persons to their ancestral communities through what observers describe as the “Borno Model” of post-conflict resettlement.
Education remains a major focus of the administration, with billions of naira invested in local and international scholarships, the construction of more than 100 mega schools and the rehabilitation of numerous classrooms across the state. These efforts earned Zulum the Education-Friendly Governor Award from the Nigeria Union of Teachers in 2024.
In the health sector, the state government has undertaken several large-scale projects while expanding primary healthcare services to underserved communities.
The administration has also implemented interventions in transportation, infrastructure development, economic revitalisation, energy, security, water resources and agriculture, with programmes designed to improve livelihoods and stabilise communities affected by insurgency.
Zulum’s leadership has also attracted international recognition. In 2024, he received the African Leadership Award from Forbes, in addition to honours such as the African Governor of the Year Award in 2023 and the African Public Service Excellence Award in 2026.
The Borno governor is also a recipient of Nigeria’s national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), as well as the Republic of Niger’s Second Order of National Honour, “Grand Officer Dans l’Ordre,” regarded as equivalent to Nigeria’s Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
