By Iliya Kure
Civil Society Organisations in Kaduna, northern Nigeria, are asking the state government to capture location of every project in its 2018 budget, as against the current practice of lumping items without stating locations.
This was part of outcomes of the Meeting in Kaduna to Support the State Government, State House of Assembly and Citizens’ Groups to Improve Engagement of Governance and Budget Process for Enhanced Service Delivery.
“The 2016 & 2017 budget documents have not spelled out where projects are located. For instance, when you pick the document, it says construction of township roads, it doesn’t tell you where the roads are to be constructed,” says Abdul Bako, one of the participants.
Participants are of the opinion that the non description of location of projects in the budget has made it difficult for citizens to support government through tracking and monitoring of contracts.
The civil society groups have also resolved to take special interest in monitoring government projects with a view to ensuring contractors adhere strictly to terms of the contracts as spelt out in the Bill of quantity.
“We will go to the relevant MDAs to obtain bill of quantity for projects, so as to monitor and ensure adherence to standards by the contractors,” says Bala Ibrahim.
In a paper, Prof. Uzochukwu Amakom had stressed the need for citizens to take special interest in governance by taking part in the budget process, from inception to monitoring of projects.
“Citizens Participation in monitoring and evaluation of budget and planning processes would promote strict adherence to its implementation as well as legitimise both the process and outcomes of budget implementation,” he said.
He encouraged civil society organisations, community based organisations and the media to ensure transparency and accountability from leadership, this he said will “awaken the consciousness of governments to the plight of citizens and propel government responsiveness on a sustained level,.”
Earlier in a speech, State Team Leader of Enhance Citizens Participation, a DFID Project, Abel Adejor said the meeting was put together to “foster an appreciation of broader governance processes, and reflection on experiences and challenges to enhance partnerships in and engagement of governance processes for improved service delivery.
“Document experiences of stakeholders in engaging governance processes especially budget process, as well as improve citizen’s engagement in the budget processes.”
Participants of the meeting were drawn from Civil Society Organisations, Community based Organisations, Religious Leaders and the Media.