Group backs CSOs to track implementation of 2023 budget in Kaduna

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) a United Kingdom (UK) supported governance programme, has mobilized Accountability mechanisms and other stakeholders to track the implementation of the 2023 Kaduna state budget.

Speaking at the opening of a technical session with civil society groups, The State Lead Facilitator, PERL, Mr. Adejor Abel, noted that the goal was to ensure that Kaduna state budget benefits Citizens.

He explained the technical session has objectives to access citizens 's influence in the 2023 approved Budget uses analysis harmonized and presented to accountability Mechanisms in the sectors, as well as to enhance Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Media capacity to effectively engage government with evidence from the budget.

He adds: “it is to generate need steps and strategies for tracking 2023 budget

" implementation as well as advocacy to improve and sustain releases for sectors.

Abel also explained that the Accountability mechanisms from Agriculture, JONAPWD, Health Education and Social Protection were selected because of their critical contributions to human capacity development.

He equally emphasised that tracking the implementation of the budget across the sectors in Kaduna State would ensure the needed transparency, accountability, and value for money.

While commending the effort of the civil society groups in the state that are working with the government to deliver quality services that impact the lives of the residents, he, however, called for media space to ensure that legislators actually bring development projects to their constituency.

In his remarks, the Co-Chair Open Government Partnership Technical

Working Group on Social Protection, Philip Yatai, noted that the engagement is very important because this is an electioneering year and there is need for position paper by the Civil society organizations on previous engagement and how to move forward with the new administration for the betterment of the citizenry.

Similarly, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Citizens’ Co-chair, Open Government Partnership, commended PERL for organising the meeting, which she described as “very critical” to effective tracking of the implementation of federal government budget in Kaduna State.

“This is very important so that citizens will understand what was provided in the budget, the purpose, locations, implementing agencies and the expected benefits for the citizens,” she stressed.

On his part, Yusuf Goje, of the Coalition of Association for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development, described the budget as a “fiscal policy apparatus used by the government to channel resources into its commitment and obligations to the citizens”.

According to him, key component of improving budget expenditure management had been the need of the government to improve transparency in its planning and implementation.

He disclosed that the 2023 Appropriation Bill has a total size of N370.33bilion, a 21.82 percent increase from the 2022 revised appropriation of N303.99bilion.

Goje, however, expressed dismay that N25.8B is for foreign loan interest and N5.6 for domestic loan repayment.

He added that the realism of the budgeting, over exaggerated revenue target for MDAs, Debt servicing, Low prioritization of the key sectors, Sectors implementation plan review reporting by the Department of Monitoring and evaluation planning and Budget Commission should form advocacy issues for the CSOs.