Gombe state university
Gombe budget preparation- Stakeholder fears strike. According to stakeholders, the roughly three-week strike by members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria may have an impact on the budgetary process in Gombe State.
A Public Financial Management Specialist Oluwatosin Oke, said the strike would rub off on the gains of timely budget preparations in the state, adding that the possibility of presenting the fiscal document and getting assent before December 31 is slim.
According to him, one of the dangers of missing the timeline is that the state won’t be considered for the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms programme, which is a $750m loan cheaper than commercial loans, adding that it would hamper development.
Oke met with our correspondent on Friday, following a two-day quarterly Public Financial Management roundtable hosted by USAID State2State in partnership with the Gombe State Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
“Another fundamental thing we are beginning to see is some level of relapse in the budgetary system, and obviously because of the electoral cycle, it took a while before the state could get the cabinet in place, and currently the parliamentary staff are on strike,” Oke said. These two elements have an impact on budget preparation and cycle.
“The state can’t take the proposed budget to the House of Assembly because the staff are on strike, and the House of Assembly is required to pass the budget into law, and it’s a glaring omission from this meeting, and the state has already missed its budget calendar.” The budget calendar’s timeline has been missed. The budget should be completed by now.
“Many stakeholders rely on the document to make decisions to plan; investors need to know what the government’s expenditure plan is because it is a fiscal document.” One of the criteria for the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms program is that the budget be put into law and assented to by the governor by December 31, 2023 for the 2024 budget.
“If the Parliamentary Staff Association is on strike by November 17, 2023, and the proposed budget is not ready, the state will miss the deadline and miss out on the SABER facility.” The facility is an offshoot of States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability to sustain of the reforms gained from SFTAS and the Presidential Enabling Business Council and it’s a $750m facility, $730m is meant for performance for results the Disbursement-Linked Indicators as amounts disbursed to states as loans for meeting those indicators, while the $20m part of it is for technical assistance. It’s a three-year programme 2023 to 2025 and each year has it own requirements and targets.”
“If the Parliamentary Staff Association is on strike by November 17, 2023, and the proposed budget is not ready, the state will miss the deadline and miss out on the SABER facility.” The facility is an offshoot of States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability to sustain the reforms gained from SFTAS and the Presidential Enabling Business Council. It is a $750 million facility, with $730 million dedicated to performance for the Disbursement-Linked Indicators as amounts disbursed to states as loans for meeting those indicators, and $20 million dedicated to technical assistance. It’s a three-year program from 2023 to 2025, with different needs and targets for each year.”
State Team Lead, Mohammed Bello-Abubakar, for his part, urged the state administration to enact essential changes, noting that doing so would spur much-needed development.
“The government should work closely with State2State to review all of the recommendations we have made to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies and allow them to implement them.” For example, the open governance partnership state steering committee should be constituted, as should the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, and a procurement cadre should be developed in collaboration with the Bureau of Public Procurement,” Bello-Abubakar stated.
Abubakar Tata, Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, praised USAID for its extensive efforts and urged Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to participate.