FRC boss urges S’East govts to implement fiscal responsibility laws

The Executive Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Victor Muruako, has expressed disgust over the non-implementation of the fiscal responsibility laws by the governments of the South East.

Muruako stated this, yesterday, at the three-day zonal retreat on Fiscal Responsibility of Subnationals and Civil Society Organisations with the theme, ‘Fostering Fiscal Accountability: Subnationals and Civil Society Collaboration,’ held in Owerri, Imo State.

Commending Governor Hope Uzodimma for hosting the event, he regretted that an important summit was held recently, opened by the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF), George Akume, and no South East state sent representatives despite that the commission and the development partners provided flights and accommodation for participants. He observed that states in the region, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra, could not operationalise the fiscal responsibility laws by setting up agencies.

He also urged academics and students to make use of the available data on fiscal responsibility to carry out research and improve the academia in the zone.
He said: “More painfully, we have observed, as a commission, that many states that have enacted fiscal responsibility laws have not bothered to set up corresponding agencies to operationalise them. Even where subnationals have established fiscal responsibility agencies, only a handful of states have empowered those agencies to do the necessary work of monitoring, promoting and enforcing transparency, accountability and prudence.

He named Imo, Anambra and Ebonyi as the only states in the South-East that have enacted the Fiscal Responsibility laws, while Abia and Enugu were yet to enact them, noting that only Abia and Ebonyi states have published Budget Implementation Performance Reports (BIRs) online.