USAID Partner Nigeria To Achieve 90% Budget Implementation For Critical Sectors Through State2State Project

State commissioners, permanent secretaries and other critical stakeholders have commended efforts by USAID in ensuring that states in Nigeria record up to 90 per cent annual budget implementation.

The stakeholders, who were participants at a three day workshop organised by the (USAID) under its Nigeria Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) project, made this known to journalists in Abuja.

They said the technical assistance by State2State in drafting Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF) would enable states across Nigeria, achieve huge budget implementation in education, health and other critical sectors.

The participants, who were drawn from six states including Sokoto, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Akwa Ibom Adamawa, Gombe, stressed that proper budget planning would not only ensure accountability and transparency in governance but equitable distribution of resources.

Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Ebonyi, Orlando Nweze, said that the state’s partnership with USAID on the project had yielded a lot of impact, particularly on the people.

He said the programme is all about having a credible physical planning to enable the government have better strategy for sourcing and implementing the budget for 2020 to 2024, adding that it is a medium term plan that will help the ministries, the sectors and the state in general make proper fiscal planning.

Nweze said the Ebonyi State government is very appreciative that this is happening at this time because the government is already running a whole lot of process restructuring in the state which links up to the engagement of the citizenry, the openness that is required in operating government activities.

He said that as part of effort to impact positively on the people, particularly in the various sectors, Ebonyi state had come up with the audio version of the 2021 budget as well as a video version.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Bauchi State, Yahuza Haruna, stated that the technical support provided by the State2State project would go a long way in enhancing livelihood of the people in different sectors.

He also noted that when a budget is realistic, “the citizens will be happy because government is budgeting what it will do and at the end of the day the budget will be implemented maybe 90 per cent or 95 per cent and then the dividends of democracy will be felt.”

Haruna stressed that the knowledge gained at the workshop would enable the state prepare effective, inclusive and implementable budget.

Executive Chairman, Adamawa State Planning Commission, Mary Paninga, said that the knowledge gained from the workshop would go a long way in preparing realistic and achievable budget.

She emphasised the importance of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. According to Panima, the MTEF is the foundation for preparing a reliable budget.

On transparency in financial management system, Paninga said, “that is the bedrock of every budget and every expenditure of every state.

“Budget must be reliable and once it is reliable, you will be held accountable, and that transparency in executing the total document will be the watch word.

She said that the emphasis is on education, agriculture, health and the like but these are the topmost and definitely security.

According to her, that is why we have citizens engagement. So the package of the budget in the state has to encompass all these.

The chairman said the USAID programme was one of the best thing to happen to the state because it had provided the avenue to gain more knowledge on how to get reliable MTEF.

The State2State project is a five year project meant to run from 2020 to 2025. It is designed to enable states of the federation run accountable financial systems that would provide quality service in basic education, health and other priority sectors.

The focal states are Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Gombe, Sokoto.5


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