CSOs seek campaign to identify, complete abandoned projects

Civil society organisations have canvassed a nationwide awareness campaign to identify and complete all abandoned projects across the country.They made the call at a workshop organised by the Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, in partnership with Oxfam in Nigeria.

The Chief Executive Officer, Niger Delta Budget Monitoring Group, Dr. George-Hill Anthony, urged the participants to use the knowledge gained from the workshop to influence and hold political representatives accountable for the development of their communities.

The participants tasked the Federal Government to collaborate with communities and media organisation to realise the vision, especially towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The workshop, which was organised for community stakeholders at the grassroots, had as its theme, fiscal influencing and responsive governance.The participants agreed to ask questions and speak out when projects located in their communities were not properly executed.

They, however, condemned some traditional rulers and community leaders who collect kickbacks and fail to raise the alarm when such projects are abandoned.

The participants also advocated community-government interface before preparing the yearly budget, as well as a review of government fiscal policies to checkmate unnecessary wastages and frivolous expenditures.On budget monitoring and basic economic literacy, the participants blamed some public institutions for failing to ensure that there is compliance to the country’s fiscal responsibility act.

They said the non-availability of information to the civil society groups, have prevented them from playing their watchdog role in monitoring the progress of projects across the country.

While urging the Federal Government to strengthen its anti-corruption fight to ensure the conviction of corrupt officials, they enjoined the CSOs to keep demanding relevant information through government laid-down channels and other instruments like the Freedom of Information Act.

Anthony explained that the event was organised with the support of Oxfam in Nigeria’s Financing for Development (F4D) initiative, under the Strategic Partnership Programme across various countries globally.

He added that it was envisaged to create a sustainable impact, whereby, more Nigerians, especially women, are empowered to participate in decision making, contributing to nation building and benefitting from better living standards through increased availability of essential services.