Oyo State has emerged as Nigeria’s highest-ranked state in the 2025 Democracy Performance Index released by the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), scoring 70 per cent in an assessment of democratic governance across the country’s 36 states.
The ranking places Oyo ahead of Nasarawa, Yobe, Ekiti and Ondo states in an assessment that examines electoral participation, political inclusion, institutional effectiveness, and civil liberties and civic space.
The latest recognition follows Oyo’s emergence as Nigeria’s most liveable state in the 2025 State Performance Index published by Phillips Consulting.
The Oyo State Government announced the democracy ranking in a statement issued on Friday by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju.
According to the statement, Nasarawa came second with 64.4 per cent, followed by Yobe with 64.3 per cent. Ekiti scored 63.9 per cent, while Ondo recorded 61 per cent.
The figures place Oyo at the top of the reported ranking, although KDI’s broader findings show that Nigeria’s states still face significant challenges in democratic governance.
The organisation’s State of Democratic Performance in Nigeria 2025 report assessed democratic practice across the federation, drawing on institutional evidence and citizens’ and stakeholders’ perspectives.
Its four principal assessment areas are electoral participation, political inclusion, democratic institutional effectiveness, and civil liberties and civic space.
KDI found that no state reached the high-performance category. Only six states were classified as having moderate democratic performance, while the remaining 30 were rated low or weak.
The findings suggest that, despite differences in state-level performance, significant gaps remain in the functioning of democratic institutions and the protection of citizens’ rights across the country.
In announcing Oyo’s result, the state government attributed the performance to citizen participation in elections, institutional effectiveness, protection of civil liberties and efforts to promote political inclusion.
The government also cited legislative oversight, fiscal accountability and the relationship between the executive and legislature as areas associated with the state’s democratic performance.
Governor Seyi Makinde said the ranking reflected deliberate decisions by his administration to place citizens at the centre of governance.
“When you build systems that work and create an environment where citizens feel safe, respected, and included, progress becomes inevitable,” the governor was quoted as saying.
Makinde said democratic stability and improvements in quality of life required sustained investment in institutions, transparency and human development.
Olanrewaju said the democracy ranking complemented the state’s performance in the 2025 liveability assessment, arguing that governance should be measured by both the functioning of democratic institutions and the conditions in which residents live.
Phillips Consulting’s 2025 State Performance Index previously identified Oyo as Nigeria’s most liveable state.
The two assessments, however, measure different aspects of state performance. KDI evaluates democratic practice, while the Phillips Consulting index considers broader indicators associated with state performance and liveability.
Oyo’s latest ranking places it first in KDI’s democracy assessment, while the report’s national findings highlight continuing challenges in political inclusion, institutional effectiveness and the protection of civic freedoms.
