CSO’s organize budget accountability training for local governments

By Jude Opara, Abuja

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s) have organized a One-day training for local government stakeholders on how to effectively handle and manage their resources.

The event with the theme: One-Day Training on Economic Literacy and Budget Accountability for Local Government Stakeholders, was jointly organized by: Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (SituationRoom), Citizens Centre for Integrated Development and Social Rights (CCIDESOR), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), Civil Society Organizations, Media, and Religious Groups in Enugu last week.

In his address, Executive Director of CCIDESOR, Dr. Emeka Ononamadu said the training has become necessary because of the pivotal roles played by local governments due to the fact that they were the first contact point between citizens and the state.

Ononamadu further stated that the circular flow of income at the local level is critical for empowering households and stimulating business, hence the need for those who operate the local governments to always ensure effective budgeting which ensure that development gets to the grassroots.

At the close of the training, participants reached the following resolutions: that without further delay, the Local Government Autonomy Executive orders and Supreme Court judgments on financial autonomy of LGAs must be enforced across all 36 states.

The abolition of the Joint Accounts provision in the 1999 Constitution which gives state governments the authority to open joint accounts with the local governments. They also described the Joint Accounts Committee (JAC), as a remnant of the military rule, which has stifled development for at the local governments for decades.

The immediate restoration of full political and financial autonomy for all the 774 local governments, arguing it would reduce Nigeria’s economic, political, and security challenges by over 70%.

That citizens must be encouraged to engage in budget formation, monitoring, and evaluation to improve governance outcomes at local government level, just as they demanded that budget copies must be publicly accessible in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (Section 2) which recommends for proactive disclosure of such governance documents.

Another critical resolution is that the budget execution must be transparent and that open procurement processes must be observed, to ensure value for money and support for the economy of the local governments.

The workshop stressed the need for sustained capacity building, with regular training for LGA officers, CSOs, media, and citizens so as to entrench a culture of accountability and participatory governance.

Above all, they equally demanded that since all government budgets are laws, any violator should be accordingly treated as one who has committed financial crimes against the society.

The training also brought together 40 participants, including representatives of NULGE, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), civil society organizations, religious groups, youth groups, and the media.

Participants reaffirmed their commitment to advancing local government autonomy, open budgets, and inclusive development as pathways to improving democracy, transparency, and prosperity in Nigeria.