Governor Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe State has said citizens’ engagement has helped to enrich the state’s budget towards meeting the demands of the people.
Yahaya stated this, yesterday, in Gombe, while declaring open the citizens’ engagement on the preparation of the state’s 2024 budget. Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Ibrahim Njodi, the governor said consulting representatives of the people at the grassroots before preparing the state’s budget, over the years, ensured the participation of citizens in governance.
According to him, through the engagement, his administration has been able to correct mistakes through the feedbacks it has been getting from the people to improve service delivery.
He said the consistency in engaging the people in budgeting process since 2020 had shown his administration’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
“It is on record that when we started this process in 2020, we took the bold step to include your suggestions in the 2021 Budget. I am glad to inform you that this has enriched the document and has even made us more committed to implementing our budgets.
“The implementation of the budget, since the inception of our administration, has been very encouraging and rewarding, especially the capital aspects of the budget.
“This has made us to be among the best, which made us receive an award in the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme in Nigeria,” he said.
The governor urged the participants to pay adequate attention to issues that would be raised and to freely participate and contribute meaningfully towards the development of the state.
On his part, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Abubakar Luggerewo, assured stakeholders at the meeting that their inputs and suggestions would be captured in the 2024 budget.
Luggerewo said: “We will do everything possible to make sure your inputs, suggestions and your recommendations are taken care of in the 2024 budget.”
Public Financial Management Specialist, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) State2State Activity in Gombe, Oluwatosin Oke, commended the state government’s commitment to engaging citizens of the state in budget preparation. Oke said USAID, through the State2State, had been supporting the state government since 2021 towards reforming public financial management.
He said: “We commend the state government for responding to the cries of the stakeholders by approving the 2024-2026 Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) on Wednesday and holding the public budget consultation with the citizens.
“This also signposts the commitment of the state to sustain the SFTAS reforms relating to citizens’ budget engagement. We hope that a higher proportion of the people’s requests will be reflected in the 2024 budget proposal,”
