Groups Want Rivers Budget Website

The Niger Delta Anti-Cor
ruption Network  (NIDAN) and Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform  (NDCBP) have called on the Rivers State Ministry of Budget to make the 2015 budget available by uploading it on the Rivers State Government  website  as well as  producing printed copies for the public.
In a press briefing, the secretary of NIDAN, Mrs  Rita Kigbara, said  it was a sad  commentary on the performance of last administration  for failing to leave the state budget  in the  public realm.
According to her, no claim to transparency and accountability can be considered valid in a system where the basic document to achieve it is not available to the public.
She also noted that the failure of the government to make  the 2015 budget  document  available  to the public has made it impossible for citizens of the state and other  tax payers to monitor the extent of public expenditure delivery and its attendant  outcome.
“We are worried that Rivers State  seems to have slid further into fiscal  fiat with the non-availability of budgets for public scrutiny  and as a guide  for public expenditure. It  defeats  every pretext  to transparency, accountability or  prudence, she said.
“Rivers State cannot claim that it is working for the people when five  months into the  year, the people have no idea what their money is being spent on,” Kigbara added.
According to her, currently citizens are not aware of which 2015 projects are located in their communities, or which  ones directly benefit them.
Also speaking, the coordinator of  Niger Delta  Citizens and Budget  Platform (NDCBP), Mr. Ken Henshaw said the danger in the trend, is that  government’s choice for public expenditure often  fails to capture  the true wishes and aspirations of the people.
At various times our organisations have made requests to the relevant government agencies for electronic   or hard copies of the document, all to no avail. On more than one occasion, the   response has been  that the document is not yet ready,” he said.
He, however, stressed the need for the state government to evolve formal structures aimed  to encouraging  citizen’s participation in the process of  fiscal  governance.

Iragunima Benice