Senator Bassey calls for participatory budgeting framework among ECOWAS members

Akwa Ibom North-East Senator, Aniekan Bassey, has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament to develop a participatory budgeting framework that will foster regional integration, good governanceand effective monitoring.

A statement made available to Newspot on Monday said Bassey made the call in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, during a one-week delocalized meeting of the Joint Committee on Administration, Finance and Budget, Public Accounts, and Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research, with the theme, ‘Community Budgeting Formulation and Monitoring’.

Bassey, a member of the Public Accounts Committee of the ECOWAS Parliament also proposed the establishment of a centralized digital platform where all budgetary documents, including draft budgets, financial reports, and audit results, are published and made accessible to the public.

He added that the platform should include mechanisms for tracking the implementation of budgetary allocations and the outcomes of funded projects.

The senator advocated for the establishment of a standardized data collection and reporting framework that all ECOWAS institutions and member states must adhere to, as well as the institutionalization of regular consultations with CSOs and private sector representatives during the budget formulation process.

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Bassey harped on the need for the adoption of a results-based management (RBM) approach to budget implementation, where clear performance indicators and outcomes are defined at the outset.

He added that adoption of institutional reforms within ECOWAS that promote greater independence and impartiality in the budgetary process should be upheld.

According to him, the ECOWAS Parliament should be empowered to have a more significant role in the budgetary process, including the potential to have a say in the final approval of the budget saying that such could involve “amendments to the Supplementary Act” to ensure that the parliament can act as more robust check on the executive bodies of the ECOWAS.

The statement added, “There should be an inclusion of specific budgetary provisions that support regional integration initiatives, such as cross-border infrastructure projects, harmonization of trade policies, and regional security cooperation.

“The Legislative Power of the ECOWAS Parliament should be strengthened, Transparency and Accountability enhanced, Capacity Building and Technical Support encouraged, Regional Integration through Budgetary Policy as well as promotion of Equitable Resource Allocation.”

Bassey, who noted that the ECOWAS Parliament has served as a watchdog for over 30 years in matters of budgeting and budgetary provisions, thanked the presiding Chairman of the Joint Committee, Benjamin Kalu, for being a strong advocate for amending the Supplementary Act and for insisting on a paradigm shift in the sub-region’s budgeting policy, particularly regarding parliamentary autonomy and powers for the sub-regional leadership.