The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Malam Auwal Musa, last Thursday said that rigorous advocacy and monitoring of the budget process would raise its implementation level.

Musa said this at a one day dialogue session on budget planning process organised by the society, with the support from Federal Public Administration Reform Programme Nigeria (FEPAR) in Abuja.

He said that increased civil society organisations’ monitoring of the process of budget making and implementation was significant to strengthen the budget process in Nigeria.

“We must sustain links with the National Assembly to contribute meaningfully to our budget process and work toward removing duplications of roles and ambiguities in its implementation, “ he said.

The guest lecturer, Dr Tochukwu Nwachukwu, in his lecture entitled: “Understanding the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) “, said that special focus on the MTEF process would make budgets more functional.

Nwachukwu said that the MTEF was a tool that could translate government’s policies into expenditure plans if it was properly done.

“Good enough, our national economy is not as complex as other climes. So if we can get it right in our MTEF planning, we will surely get it right in our fiscal expenditure,” he said.

He noted that the MTEF was a medium term planning for revenue and expenditure for three years, adding that “ it can positively affect lives if taken more seriously“.

The Tide reports that MTEF is a mandatory part of Nigeria’s budget making as demanded by the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

Part II of the Act says that the Federal Government after consultation with the states shall prepare and lay before the National Assembly (NASS) for consideration and approval, an MTEF for the next three financial years.

Nwachukwu urged more civil societies to get educated about the import of the MTEF document to development and engage legislators and agencies of government more often where omissions were identified in the budget process.

Rep. John Owan-Enoh  Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation told newsmen that legislators were not to blame for any poor budget implementation.

Rep. Owan-Enoh representing Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency of Cross River State, said instead it was the oversight roles of the legislators that improved the rate at which the budget was being executed.

“Anybody claiming that we are not doing enough oversight on budget implementation is naïve. It is our roles that are even producing the results that we can boast of as a nation in terms of our budget process,” he said.

In his remark, Mr Adewale Agbojo, the CSO/Grant Manager, FEPAR, said that the cost of educating Nigerians about the MTEF was not too big to bear compared to ignorance of the policy.

“We must ensure that the people know about their budget making to increase their inputs and their valid objections to the appropriation that are legalised,’’ he said.

PIX 18; Director of Publication, Rivers State Newspaper Corporation, Mrs Juliet Njiowhor (left), presenting  a gift to   a retired staff of the corporation, Mr. Olu Jacob Pinnick in Port Harcourt last Saturday