Members of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly have concluded the 2024 third-quarter budget performance hearing for priority MDAs with a pledge to ensure improved budgetary allocation and oversight in 2025.
The hearing organised by USAID State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity at Golden Royale Hotels Enugu held from September 23 to 25, 2024.
The quarterly engagement allowed the state lawmakers to review the performances of the state budget implementation, especially in the education and health sectors as well as the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH sector.
Declaring the hearing open, the Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Moses Ije-Odunwa, thanked USAID State2State Activity for consistently building the capacity of the state lawmakers, which he said has helped them to effectively discharge their responsibilities.
He attributed the success recorded in areas of oversight, monitoring and improved budget implementation to the constant engagement of relevant stakeholders through USAID State2State Activity.
Speaker Odunwa tasked various committees of the assembly and heads of ministries and parastatals to work towards closing the gaps identified and to ensure general improvement in all the sectors to achieve the governor’s People’s Charter of Needs policy in the state.
In his remarks, the state team lead of State2State, Dr. Sam Onyia, appreciated the Speaker, members of the Ebonyi State Assembly, and other stakeholders for constantly responding to State2State Activities, which are targeted at improving government’s ability to plan and budget, raise revenues, manage conflict and oversee service delivery in the health, education and WASH sectors.
Dr. Onyia enumerated the importance of the public account committee hearing, stressing that it was expected that the state achieves at least eighty per cent budget performance in priority sectors, and lawmakers are very instrumental in achieving the target.
On their part, the Citizens Engagement Specialist of USAID State2State Activity, Munachiso Odulana, and the Public Finance Manager, Mr. Chibueze Nwonye who made presentations on review of the last quarter’s resolutions and Ebonyi State second quarter of 2024 budget performance in the priority sectors, observed that some units in basic education, health and WASH sectors have shown improved capital expenditure, particularly in quarter two, while issues of overhead for some agencies could indicate potential challenges in project implementation.
In their separate speeches, the Chairman of House Committee on Water Resources, Mrs Chinyere Nwogbaga, and her counterparts, Aloysius Nwodo (Education), Mrs Esther Agwu (Health) and Godwin Abiri (Public Accounts), all said that the workshop has equipped them and would help them intensify efforts in carrying out their legislative and oversight functions.
Deputy Speaker Chinedu Onah expressed worry that from the budget performance review, some ministries and departments were unable to access an appreciable percentage of their budget, describing the budget review hearing as productive.
He, however, promised that the quarterly hearing would be sustained by the State Assembly.
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