From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The Daily Trust Foundation, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, a US based organization, has organized a 3-day Training on Budget Tracking and Investigating Public Expenditure for 40 journalists in the North Central states.
The training which is holding in Ilorin, Kwara state, started on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, had participating journalists drawn from Benue, Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT).
A member of the Board of Trustees of Daily Trust Foundation, Chief Isiaq Ajibola, said the cardinal objective of the training is to help entrench transparency and accountability in governance in Nigeria beginning with the budget.
He noted that while government cannot operate without a budget, where it outlines sources of income and how the funds are spent for the development of the state, “it is, therefore, important to know how budgets are prepared and how funds are spent.”
He however observed that over the years, Nigerian journalists have emphasized only the national budget but not much is asked or investigated about the state government budgets.
“At the beginning of every year, we read reports about capital expenditure and recurrent expenditure, and, of course, the ministries that are allocated the jumbo share of the budget. Usually, after the president’s budget speech, we read few reactions from supposed experts and then return to our normal daily activities.
“The budget, whether federal or state, determines the fate of the people; the direction of government and its policies; it speaks about the quality of choices being made by those in power; it shows their values; it tells on the quality of life of the people – healthcare, education, water, energy, transportation and infrastructure in general.
“This is why journalists must scrutinize budgets. It is not an issue that should be left to the president, his ministers and national assembly members alone. Journalists must ask questions about the budget; the sources of revenue and how the revenue is being spent. This is what it means to hold government accountable to the people, as enunciated in Section 22 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We must ask government to explain how the funds generated by its agencies on behalf of the people are spent,” he maintained
He told the participants that “This training on budget tracking and investigating public expenditure is meant to equip those of you here with the capacity to ask important questions of state governments.
“In the minimum, you will understand how the budget process works; you will be exposed to the country’s procurement laws. Governments are bound by laws, including those guiding procurement process. You will learn when a procurement process is followed in the award of contract or when it is abused. You will also be exposed to the processes involved in obtaining and analyzing data about state budget. You will learn the skills and strategies you can deploy to track government projects.”
He urged participants to take advantage of eventful, opportunity saying with the line-up of facilitators , among them a former permanent secretary in Kwara State Ministry of Finance, Mr Benjamin Sehinde Fatigun, and a staff of UK-based International Budget Partnership and data analyst, Damilola Ojetunde, the training would be impactful.
Earlier, Director of the foundation, Dr Theophilus Abbah and the Accountant General of Kwara state, Abdulganiyu Danni, in their separate remarks, also challenged journalists to hold government accountable to ensure proper implementation of budgets at the state level.
Daily Trust Foundation is the non-profit arm of Media Trust Group and the platform for the execution of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects, which include capacity building for Nigerians in the field of media and journalism, scholarship for female medical and nursing students and for the girl-child in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), among others.