By Egede Sylvester
The USAID State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity has concluded a quarterly Budget Performance hearing between the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and key sectors in the state.
The hearing, held at Osborne La Palm, involved the Ministries of Education, Health, and Water Resources. Other ministries and parastatals, including Finance, Budget and Planning, Civil Society Organizations, and Agencies, were also in attendance.
During the event, the Chairman of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Hon. Barr Aloysius Nwodo, reiterated the Assembly’s commitment to ensuring total compliance with budget proposals in the state. He emphasized the importance of the budget meeting the People’s Charter of Needs mantra of the State Governor.
Hon. Nwodo assured that all House Committees on priority sectors would collaborate with relevant bodies and authorities to identify and address any gaps in budget implementation. He also commended USAID State2State for its positive impact on budget preparation and implementation in Ebonyi State.
The Ebonyi State Team Lead of USAID State2State, Dr. Sam Onyia, explained that the programme aimed to review the budget performance, discuss outcomes, and make recommendations for more effective 2024 budget implementation for priority sector MDAs.
The review of the previous quarter’s resolutions for the Education, Health, and WASH sectors was presented by the USAID State2State Citizens Engagement and Capacity Building Specialist, Mounachiso Obulana. He noted that the review would help the state government and stakeholders monitor the allocation and utilization of financial resources across sectors.
In their separate speeches, the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Chief Abiri Godwin, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Mfon Williams, and representatives of the CSO Network, Bar Nkem Chukwu, highlighted the importance of periodic progress reviews and reporting for effective budget management and public fund utilization.
In closing remarks, the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics in the Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Mr. Samson Egede, praised the efforts of USAID State2State in holding stakeholders accountable and ensuring their responsibility towards budget execution. He assured that the lessons learned would help bring about improvements in the state’s budget implementation. He also expressed satisfaction with the leadership of Governor Chief Francis Nwifuru for bringing capable hands on board to ensure the success of his administration.
Highpoints of the program included discussions on budget performance findings, documentation of recommendations by the State House of Assembly Committees, and the development of action plans for more effective budget performance.