Presentation of the Citizens Accountability Report (CAR) by Dr Samuel Udu, Auditor-General of Ebonyi State during the Multi-stakeholders town hall meeting in Abakaliki.
The Ebonyi Government has restated its commitment to upholding principles of fiscal accountability and good governance through effective implementation of annual budgets and monetary policy.
Dr Samuel Udu, the state’s Auditor-General stated this at a Zonal multi-stakeholders town hall meeting on Wednesday in Abakaliki for Ebonyi Central and Ebonyi North Senatorial zones for the presentation of Citizens Accountability Report (CAR).
The event was organised by the Nigeria Civil Situation Room (NCSR) in partnership with Development Integrity Goal Foundation (DIGF), with support from United Kingdom (UK) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Udu explained that the state government has maintained transparency and openness in the preparation of the annual budgets as well as implementation of items provided for by the budget.
According to him, the state is among the few states that benefitted from State Fiscal Accountability Transparency and Sustainability (SFATS) project that wound up its project in 2023 in Nigeria due to its transparency in budget and audit matters.
He said that the state won some millions of dollars due to the way and manner budgets and audits were presented in a transparent manner.
“Since that time we were determined, those of us who are state actors to sustain those impacts made by SFATS and we ensure that we upload the audited financial statement which is requirement for determining transparency in budget and audit procedures,” Udu said.
The AG also explained the process which a budget must pass through to make it transparent, people-based and meet international best standards.
He said: “In preparation for budget, the citizens must make inputs and that’s why in June before the commencement of the preparation of the 2025 budget, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning called the citizens and asked them to say what they want.
” The ministry of Budget will take the inputs home and accommodate them unlike in the past when it is only what the government has in mind they will put in the budget.
“Now, citizens are involved; they say what they want in there various wards and they are accommodated and captured in the budget.”
He said that after the preparation of the budget, it would then be presented before the public.
“So, the first stage in budget preparation is citizens’ input, followed by citizens’ budget and after the ministries , departments and agencies (MDAs) may have prepared their budgets based on what is given to them then , there will be a bilateral discussion.
“During the bilateral discussion, ministry of Budget calls the various MDAs to come and present their budget proposals for defence, in that case , civil society organisations are expected to be there to ask questions during the presentations.
“When it goes to house for legislative works, remember that nobody who is an indigene of Ebonyi who will say that he does not have a representative in the House of Assembly, so, the house will look at what is before them and approve.
“Once the budget proposals is approved and assented to by the governor, it becomes an appropriation law and no MDA is expected by the law to spend beyond what is approved by the budget,” he said.
Udu said that the involvement of citizens and CSOs in the budget preparation process made it imperative for people to demand accountability, to know whether the funds appropriated for particular projects in the budget were actually released and spent on those projects.
He called on the people to track budget implementations to be able to hold their representatives government accountable.
Earlier, Chief Oliver Aja, Executive Director, DIG, addressing participants said that the essence of the meeting was to build capacity so that the people would be knowledgeable enough to hold leaders accountable and be able to ask questions on how public funds were been spent.
“You need to note down some of the things the Auditor-General will be saying while making his presentation because it is our money; whatever money the governor or any of the public officers are spending is our collective funds so, we need to know what they are spending our money for.”
A participating, Mr Ude Agwu applauded the foundation and its partners for organising the meeting, saying that it was the duty of citizens to hold their leaders accountable to enhance good governance.
“It’s not a situation we will be indifferent and feel less concerned about the way our common patrimony is been spent, it’s time we began to ask questions and demand that leaders render account on how they spend these funds,” he said. ENDS//
