Subjecting the budget process in the National Assembly to public hearings
\nto provide for an inclusive multi-stakeholder involvement has been
\nidentified as one of the key solutions to reforming the country\u2019s public
\nfinance and ensure equitable nationwide development.<\/p>\n
In a similar manner, upscaling transparency and accountability through
\nworkable budget tracking measures which involve citizens at all levels has
\nalso been listed as a major step in making the annual budget work in the
\npublic interest.<\/p>\n
These recommendations were part of a 12-point communique raised from the
\nOrderPaper.ng Colloquium on Budgetary Reforms held on September 26, 2016
\nin Abuja and attended by gladiators from the National Assembly, the
\nExecutive, Civil Society, Media, Development Partners, and other critical
\nstakeholders.<\/p>\n
The communique which was endorsed by Oke Epia, Publisher of OrderPaper.ng;
\nAnthony Ubani, Moderator of the Technical Panel; and Chido Onumah, head of
\nthe team of rapporteurs for the colloquium, harped on timeliness of budget
\npresentation and stressed that \u201cthe Executive and Legislature should adopt
\na more participatory budgeting process by widely consulting with the
\ncitizens and other stakeholders through public hearings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other resolutions reached at the meeting include: \u00a0\u201cThat a formal forum
\nfor pre-budget consultations and liaison between the Legislature and the
\nExecutive should be created in order to reduce the instances of
\ndisagreements and bickering between the two arms upon presentation of the
\nAppropriation bill, passage and subsequent implementation;<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) should be adopted as a
\nbenchmark for determining what projects to be included in the budget which
\nshould be equitably spread across the country;<\/p>\n
\u201cThat provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act should be strictly
\nadhered to in the preparation and implementation of the budget whilst a
\nholistic look at the Act should be considered to take care of observed
\ndeficiencies;<\/p>\n
\u201cThat there should be effective tracking of projects and evaluation of
\nbudget expenditures to ensure transparency and accountability whilst the
\nrole of anti-corruption agencies in the budgetary process clearly defined
\nand enhanced;\u201d and<\/p>\n
\u201cMulti-stakeholder consultations including the private sector, development
\npartners and the media should be undertaken for the budgetary process;\u201d
\nand that \u201cthe media and civil society should improve their watchdog roles
\nin monitoring the budgetary process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stakeholders at the colloquium which was chaired by Sokoto State
\nGovernor, Aminu Tambuwal and had presentations from Speaker, House of
\nRepresentatives, Yakubu Dogara, and representative of the Minister of
\nBudget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, also resolved on the
\nfollowing recommendations: \u201creform of the procedures of budgeting in the
\nNational Assembly to ensure better accountability, transparency and
\nopenness;<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking a budget law to cover the processes and procedures of the
\nbudgetary exercise with strengthening legislative oversight being a key
\nfocus;<\/p>\n
\u201cThat the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) should be
\nestablished without further delay; and \u201ccontinual engagement of relevant
\nstakeholders and to report on gains made with respect to the
\nimplementation of resolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The colloquium which also had Deputy President of the Senate, Ike
\nEkweremadu; Eze Onyekpere, fiscal governance expert and Lead Director at
\nCentre for Social Justice (CENSOJ); and Sen. Ita Enang, Senior Special
\nAssistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate) to the President in
\nparticipation also commended OrderPaper.ng for \u201cconvening the conversation
\nat such auspicious time in the country\u2019s history and urged all
\nstakeholders to continue to support the initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of the technical panel at the colloquium which had \u201cBudget as a
\ntool for Accelerated Economic Development in Nigeria\u201d as theme were Sen.
\nJohn Enoh, Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance; Sen. Shehu Sani,
\nChairman, Senate Committee on Domestic & Foreign Debts. And Hon. Kingsley
\nChinda, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts.<\/p>\n
Others were Hon. Lawal Garba, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee
\non Constituency Outreach; Sen. Chris Anyanwu, member of the 6th and 7th
\nSenate; Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher, Premium Times; Victor Muruako, Acting
\nChairman Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC); and Imoni Amarere,
\nManaging Director, News Services, Daar Communications.<\/p>\n
The communique which had earlier been read out and adopted by a unanimous
\nvoice vote by all participants at the colloquium was the highpoint of the
\nevent billed to be an annual exercise, according to its organizers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Subjecting the budget process in the National Assembly to public hearings to provide for an inclusive multi-stakeholder involvement has been identified as one of the key solutions to reforming the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n