Rabiu Omaku
Nasarawa State Government has opened its 2027 budget to the residents and declared that roads, schools, clinics, water and jobs would only make the budget if they ask for them.
The declaration was made yesterday in Lafia at the Citizens’ Budget Town Hall meeting
The forum, themed “Strengthening Citizens’ Participation, Transparency and Accountability in the Budget Process”, brought together community leaders, youth groups, women, farmers, civil society organisations and media practitioners.
Declaring the event open, the commissioner for Budget and Planning, Hon. Ahmed Yakubu Mohammed, said the era of budgeting by assumption is over in the state.
According to him, the Abdullahi Sule administration will no longer sit in offices to decide what communities need.
“The approach is intended to ensure that the views of citizens are properly captured and translated into realistic budget priorities.
“A budget is not merely a collection of figures. It is a reflection of the needs of the people,” Mohammed said.
He said the 2027 budget will deliberately create space for young people, adding that grassroots intelligence is now Government’s planning compass
“When citizens provide credible information about the challenges confronting their communities, Government is better positioned to plan, prioritise and allocate resources,” he noted.
Mohammed urged participants to bare their minds on what is not working in their communities, assuring that every submission will be reviewed and weighed against available resources.
He also charged CSOs and Journalists to keep Government on its toes with factual, constructive criticism.
Earlier, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Isa Abdul Osama, said the town hall was beyond talk.
He said the ministry used the platform to give account of how previous budgets performed, take knocks where it failed and harvest fresh priorities from the people.
He asked citizens to speak freely on decaying rural roads, shortage of teachers, deplorable primary healthcare centres, lack of potable water and youth unemployment.
“All your submissions will be documented and considered before proposals are presented to the Governor and subsequently transmitted to the State House of Assembly,” Osama said.
The Government said the exercise is proof that Governor Sule’s commitment to inclusive Governance, transparency and accountability is not rhetoric,the Commissioner of Budget and Planning said he will carry out the message in written to the State Government about the plight of the people of a community.
Also participants in the citizen Budget asked pertinent questions on how influential people in the society hijacked employment process in the State while others decry why some communities are not benefiting from either ongoing construction of rural roads by the state Government or building of School by the state Government.
Citizens however make inquiries on how money voted to some sectors were not released to them to embarked on such projects maybe in communities lacking of potable drinking water.
