By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
Civil Society groups in the Niger Delta have called for increased transparency around fiscal flows and how they are expended in local government councils in the region.
The call was made yesterday in Uyo, during the Niger Delta Open Budget Forum (NDOBF) 2024 organized by Policy Alert, a frontline civil society organization working for economic and ecological justice in the region.
A statement at the end of the event signed by Faith Paulinus, the organisation’s Programme Officer, Governance Reforms and Anti-corruption, stated that the Forum was, “aimed at ensuring that budget processes at state and local government levels are open, accountable and responsible to the needs of citizens.”
“This year’s edition of the Niger Delta Open Budget Forum themed “Making local government financial autonomy work for the Niger Delta: The Transparency Imperative” afforded stakeholders and participants from both demand and supply side the opportunity to assess the recent granting of fiscal autonomy to local governments from a transparency lens.
“The idea was to draw up practical strategies for citizens’ engagement with local governments for sustainable and people-driven fiscal governance at the grassroots level in the Niger Delta.” The statement said.
The event also availed participants an opportunity to assess financial flows and budget implementation at the local level, with specific attention to how local government finances are responding to grassroots needs in key sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation and agriculture.
“While we have witnessed wide ranging reforms across the region in the areas of fiscal responsibility, budget transparency, audit, and freedom of information, fiscal governance at the local government level across the region remains very opaque.
“What this event tried to achieve is to cascade the conversation on fiscal reforms to the grassroots level, recognizing that openness is needed to ensure that the fiscal autonomy recently granted to local governments leads to meaningful improvements in the lives of citizens.” It concluded.
