Abia State House of Assembly has called on the Federal Government to sufficiently fund the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, projects to enable the vision thrive.
The House of Assembly Committee Chairman on SDGs, Planning Commission and Donor Agencies, Hon. Jerry Uzosike, who made the call while receiving in audience a delegation of Abia State SDGs who called on him at the State House of Assembly complex, expressed shock that since the inception of the programme in 2015, that Abia SDG has not been funded as regards capital project.
The lawmaker further hinted that the role the legislature is to carryout oversight functions with a view to ensure that all the goals and visions of the programme are implemented by allocating the actual budget earmarked for its realization and for Abia State government to pay its counterpart fund to sustain the project.
While applauding Abia State government under the leadership of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu as Governor for upholding its part of the agreement since Abia adopted the project, Hon. Uzosike, maintained that the aim of the programme will be defeated if the federal government fails to play its parts through funding.
He urged Abia government to sustain the level of achievements it has recorded so far in curbing maternal-child mortality rate and out of school syndrome in education among others adding that the committee under his watch and the entire leadership of the Abia House of Assembly will do everything within the armbit of the law to ensure the SDGs vision is fully actualize.
Earlier, the Desk Officer, Abia State SDGs, Mr. Ezenwa Maduagwu, had disclosed that the aim of their visit was to initimate the stakeholders in the programme of the achievements they recorded and inform them of the federal government’s resolve to track sucess of activities between 2015-2017 project year.
He reiterated that Abia has not benefitted in any of the projects and funds from the federal government since 2015 save the supplies of books and basic house equipment it was alloted to it then.
Maduagwu, therefore, thanked Abia government for incorporating SDGs activities in its budget plan and implementing it and further called on the federal government to replicate same.
Also in the company of the Abia SDGs officials were, Mr. Henry Mba, SDGs consultant, from Abuja, the Project Monitoring and Evaluation officer, Mr. Ikechukwu Ndubuisi.
