Budget Ministry Engages Plateau Northern Zone on 2024 Citizens’ Participation in the Budgeting Process

The Plateau State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has interacted with the citizens of the state at the headquarters of the three senatorial districts at a townhall meeting on citizen engagement in the budgeting process.

Nde Dan-Philip Hirkop, Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Plateau State, while addressing the participants for the Northern Zone held at Joshua Dariye’s Hall, Plateau State Polytechnic, Jos Campus on April 20, 2023, highlighted that this occasion is an interactive session between the government and its citizens in the budget preparation process.

Nde Hirkop maintained that it’s the desire of the ministry and that of the government to make a positive impact on the lives of the citizens after the successful completion of the process in question.

The rationale behind the meeting is to strengthen transparency, accountability, and sustainability of government programs as well as gain government confidence in their implementation, the commissioner stressed.

Hon. Hirkop equally stated that the citizens are the focal point of government budgetary policy and programs, and their engagement at the preparatory stage cannot be overemphasized. They are to own the budget as they are part and parcel of the budgeting process through their valuable input, which is key.

“My dear participants, it is important for me to inform all citizens that the 2024 budgeting process will soon commence with the preparation of a Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), which will serve as a guide for projections prior to the collection of proposals from citizens of the state, all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), and civil society organizations (CSOs) for bilateral discussion. Therefore, in order for the draft budget document to transit to the legislature in good time, the process has to be “snappy.” Hon. Hirkop said.

The Commissioner further asserted that “the 2024 budget has to comply with the recent guidelines that put emphasis on what is known as local governance.” Thus, communities are to ensure that more people from the grassroots are involved in the process.

Nde Dan-Philip Hirkop stated that, “in spite of the limited resources, the government is still responsive to its statutory responsibility to the citizens of the state.” To prove this beyond reasonable doubts, the government demonstrated this by the prompt payment of worker’s salaries and pensions, the settlement of debts, and the continued work on all the projects inherited from the previous administration since inception, with some completed to be commissioned before transition and some on-going, noting that the Rescue Administration has also initiated projects that are very critical to the lives of the citizens, cutting across the 17 local government areas of the state. 

He further charged all citizens to sustain the relative peace being enjoyed and to live in harmony with one another irrespective of tribal, political, or religious affiliation in order to build a better Plateau State.

In his part, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr. Peter Lamba Bot, during a media chat, insisted that the benefits of the citizens’ participation in the budgeting process are a bottom-up approach in which the citizens on whom the budget is expected to have a direct impact would contribute by highlighting the projects they need on the scale of preference, enlightening them on the successes achieved so far, and equally encouraging them to regularly pay their revenues, dues, and taxes.

The Director of Budget in the Ministry, Mr. Abraham Mandam, gave the highlights of the approved 2023 budget and equally pinpointed the need for the participants to aggregate their input as that would be the basis for the 2024 budget.

The event had in attendance paramount rulers from the Senatorial District, stakeholders in both the state and in the budget process, civil society organizations, trade unions, religious leaders, women, and youths from the six local government councils that make up the zone.