Business
Commission Tasks Officials On 2016 Budget Implementation
The Secretary, National
Planning Commission (NPC), Mr Bassey Akpanyung, has called on civil servants to acquire requisite knowledge that would guide them in the implementation of 2016 budget.
Akpanyung made the call in Abuja at a four-day training programme on “Strategic Planning, Budgeting and Medium Term Expenditure Framework for NPC officials and selected Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)’’.
The selected MDAs are Federal Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Budget Office, Office of Head of Civil Service of the Federation, National Bureau of Statistics and Federal Ministry of Finance.
Akpanyung, who was represented by Mr Christian Ezeilo, NPC’s Director of Administration, added that the training would provide the needed exposure for the participants in the areas of planning and budgeting.
He said that the training would expose the participants in the areas of developing strategic plans and medium term expenditure framework as well as their implementation.
The secretary said there was need to build the capacity of the officials to fill the gap created due to several factors in the areas of budgeting and implementation.
“It has also become more imperative to organise the training, especially now that the current administration intends to implement a zero-based budgeting system as against the envelope system.
“This is also consistent with the aspiration of the medium term strategic plan which focuses on issues of employment creation, infrastructure development, social protection, fighting corruption, solid minerals development, among others,’’ he said.
The secretary also said that the workshop was part of the 10th European Union Development Fund (EDF) support to the Federal Governance Reform Programme (SUFEGOR) in Nigeria.
He said the support was to improve the technical expertise of the public servants for enhanced delivery in the country.
In another training workshop tagged ‘’Research Methodology and Policy Analysis’’ mainly for NPC officials, Akpanyung said the participants would be equipped on advanced research methodologies.