February 24, (THEWILL) – A Civil society organisation, Policy Alert, whose aim is working to improve economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta Region, has specifically urged Governor Nyesom Wike’s-led government to publish its 2022 approved budget and budget implementation report for 2021.
The Civil Advocacy group’s Communication and Stakeholder engagement officer of the organisation, Nenka Luke-Ndumere made the call in a statement during the re-launch of its #OurBudgetOurMoney Campaign in Uyo.
According to THEWILL, during the event, which featured presentation of an analysis of the 2022 approved budget and budget implementation reports of all the nine Niger Delta states, the CSO lauded Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Abia, Imo and Delta states in general for publishing both their 2022 approved budgets and 2021 full year budget implementation report. It noted particularly that Rivers state is the only state in the Niger Delta region, yet to publish the two important financial documents.
The statement said “We must note that this has been an unfortunate trend with Rivers state. The state ranked the least among the South-South states in the subnational Budget Transparency Index 2020. It has also trailed behind other Niger Delta states in all the annual performance assessments for the states Fiscal Transparency Accountability and Sustainability program (SFTAS), implemented by the Federal government and the World Bank.
“The government of Rivers state must make deliberate efforts to change the narrative. It is a paradox that while Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has been leading the charge for subnational fiscal autonomy, the state under his watch has failed to put in place the necessary transparency and accountability safeguards to reduce the vulnerability of its public finance system to corruption and other governance risks”, the CSO’s spokesman stated.
They further added, “openness around government’s financial transactions ensures that citizens and accountability institutions can follow government programmes and actions needed to hold governments at all levels accountable.”
The Civil Society group called on Rivers state government to take a leaf from the other eight states of the Niger Delta that have made their documents public, noting that “when these documents are published, citizens are more enlightened on the government’s plans for them and how it tends to execute these plans. It also helps citizens understand how their resources were managed during the previous fiscal year, thereby reinforcing their trust in the government.
Luke-Ndumere further stated that the organisation is not resting on its oars, as the organisation had launched a social media campaign tagged #publishRiversBudget, just as soliciting the interest of members of the public and other CSOs to support the campaign for the government of Rivers state to urgently publish its annual budgets and other fiscal documents online.
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