Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has described as ‘lacking impetus for development’, the current budgeting system in the country.
The anti-graft body passed the negative verdict about the nation’s budgetting system owing to the non-involvement of critical stakeholders, particularly citizens in its preparation.
Speaking at a two-day workshop organised by a group, Centre for Youth Initiative on Self Education (CEYISED) in collaboration with the ICPC in Osogbo, the representative of the anti graft body, Baba Alaro Shuaib said, if all stakeholders are involved in budgeting, it would guarantee transparency and make citizens to have confidence in the system.
He then called on all tiers of government in the country to get involved in budget processes, citizens to ensure that their actual needs are reflected in the government plans.
He added that the current budgetting process does not place serious emphasis on the need for consultation especially with rural dwellers before projects for implementation in their domain are selected.
In their presentations at the 2-day Capacity Building workshop on “Budget Processes at the Grassroot Level”, Speaker of the Osun House of Assembly, Najeem Salaam and the Executive Director, CEYISED, Mohammed Sharaf’deen, said without the involvement of the citizen, who would play critical roles in budget cycle, such budget could not be said to have met the criteria of participatory budgeting processes.
Sharaf’deen said, with proper consultation with communities, the government would have adequate information about the needs of the people and meet them through budget processes, saying proper consultation of the leadership structure would solve majority of the problems attached to budgeting.
He said: “To identify community needs, it is compulsory to focus on the asset and strength of a community, as these are needed to develop such community. The denial of these can lead to underdevelopment and conflict at the grassroot.”
Also, Salaam, who was represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Public Account, Rasheed Afolabi said the most effective budgeting process is the bottom-up approach which gives the people at the grassroot who will be the beneficiaries of such processes the opportunity to be involve actively in their affairs.
He said: “For a budget to be successful, all the stakeholders must be well involved and engaged. That is the best way to achieve success.”
Bola Bamigbola, Osogbo
