Civil Society Organizations forum had on weekend lamented over what they called “Opacity in Akwa Ibom 2019 Budget proposal” which was recently sent to the state house of assembly for consideration and approval by the governor, Deacon Udom Emmanuel.
The Chairman of the forum, Mr. Harry Udo in a statement expressed worry over an alleged State Government’s non-inclusiveness of the budgeting process for the 2019 budget proposal noting that governments all over the world including Nigeria are opening up government to citizens’ participation in line with the precepts of the Open Government Partnership, which Nigeria signed on to in July 2016.
He said that government would likely be more effective and credible when governance is subjected to public input and oversight.
According to him, “Open Budget is a key commitment of the Nigerian government under the ambit of the OGP. This commitment seeks to “ensure more effective citizens’ participation across the entire budget cycle”.
“We therefore wonder why the Akwa Ibom state government should shroud the budgeting process in
opacity.
“Even states that are yet to sign on to the OGP have shown good intent by opening up their
budgeting process to citizens participation, especially involving Civil Society Organizations, CSOs, who
make up the third sector.
“The state’s annual budget is the singular most important policy document of government, yet it is shrouded in opacity.”
He also reasoned that if the budget was meant for the people as said, the process of its formulation and implementation should be made open to the people
“If it is for the people, the process of formulating and
implementing the budget should not be misted. We must know that corruption breeds within the cauldron of opacity.” He said.
The Forum however commended the current House of Assembly of Akwa Ibom State under the leadership of Rt. Hon (Barr.) Onofiok Luke for opening up the space for citizens’ participation through open hearings like
the one on the state’s budget for 2019 recently but added that the open hearing on the state budget does little to influence the outcome of the appropriation bill saying that often what is passed is what was sent
in by the Governor with only a minute deduction in the budget figure.
“It is worthy of note that budget accountability rests on the pillars of transparency, oversight and public participation. Public hearing on the budget, much as it opens up the space for citizens’ engagement, holds little results.
“We therefore call on the state government to ensure citizens’ participation during the formulation,
implementation and evaluation of the performance of the state budget.
‘We further urge the government to as a matter of urgency sign up to the Open Government Partnership for its beneficial potent for good governance. Also the state House of Assembly should shore up their oversight functions, especially over budget implementation as this will help to draw down greater dividends to the people of the state.
Udoh called on the people of Akwa Ibom State to wake up from debilitating docility and engage their
leaders and be part of the decision making process in the state.
