By Brenda Chidinma Imo-Eze
A civil society organization group known as Green the Red has commended the government of Ebonyi State for allocating ₦17 billion for Community Charter of Demand (CCD) projects in the 2025 budget.
The Green the Red Cluster, alongside other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), made this known in a press briefing held on Thursday in Abakaliki.
Speaking during the briefing, the Executive Director of the Development & Integrity Intervention Goal Foundation (DIG), Ajah Oliver Chima, highlighted that the allocation surpasses the combined constituency projects of the 24 members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly.
He stressed that this allocation should receive full support from the lawmakers, urging them to work collectively with their constituencies to implement the CCD projects.
The ₦17 billion allocated to the projects covers various sectors, including road construction, housing, education, healthcare, and agriculture.
Some of the top projects include the construction of 280 kilometers of roads across 140 communities, the building of 65 housing units for widows, and the rehabilitation of 60 dilapidated school buildings. Other key initiatives include the establishment of health clinics in critical areas and significant investments in agriculture to boost food security.
Chima also recalled that the process to gather inputs from citizens for the 2025 budget started in June 2024, with USAID State2State, DIG Foundation, USAID Scale, Green the Red Cluster, and other CSOs leading the way. This process aimed to ensure that citizens’ needs were captured through the CCD process, just as it has been in previous years.
He further recalled that a series of town hall meetings were held, engaging both communities and relevant Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to ensure that community priorities were addressed in the budget.
“The engagement cut across relevant MDAs, especially those in the social sectors and others, including Health, Education, WASH, Works, etc.,” he stated.
Adding “the following MDAs captured CCD projects in their 2025 budget: the Ministry of Works, Ministry of Water Resources, EB-RUWASSA, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Infrastructural Development and Concession, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Ebonyi State Universal Basic Education Board, Ministry of Health, Ebonyi State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, and more.
Chima commended these MDAs for recognizing and prioritizing citizens’ inputs in the budget, acknowledging their commitment to community-driven development.
“These CCD projects highlight the unique needs of various communities. However, there are similarities in the constituency projects of all the 24 House of Assembly members, which raises concerns about why this is the case,” he said.
He stressed the need for better synergy and partnership between the House of Assembly members and their constituencies in selecting projects that truly meet the needs of the people.
Chima further praised the Ebonyi State government, led by Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, for demonstrating a strong commitment to the People’s Charter of Needs.
Stating “With this singular act, the Ebonyi State government led by Rt Hon Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has demonstrated high-level commitment in achieving the People’s Charter of Needs mantra of the present administration – a government that allows citizens to make inputs into the budget for over seventeen billion Naira is worthy for commendation
“This is real history, the highest ever in the history of CCD in Ebonyi State if not all over Nigeria. This is in line with Open Government Partnership (OG) and other global reform initiatives including the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability, SFTAS.”