Policy Alert, a civil society organisation, CSO, working to improve economic and ecological justice in the Niger Delta, has called on the Government of Rivers State to publish its 2022 approved budget and Budget Implementation Report, BIR, for 2021.
Policy Alert made this call in a statement signed by its Communication and Stakeholder Engagement Officer, Nneka Luke-Ndumere, during the re-launch of its #OurBudgetOurMoney campaign in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
During the event, which also featured the presentation of an analysis of the 2022 approved budgets and budget implementation reports of the nine states of the Niger Delta, the CSO commended the governments of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Bayelsa, Ondo, Abia, Imo and Delta states for publishing both their 2022 approved budgets and 2021 full-year budget implementation report.
The organization noted that Rivers State is the only state in the Niger Delta that has yet to publish these two important financial documents.
The statement read in part, “We must note that this has been an unfortunate trend with Rivers State. The state ranked the least among the South-South States in the Subnational Budget Transparency Index 2020.
“It has also tailed behind other Niger Delta states in all the annual performance assessments for the States Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability program-for-results (SFTAS) implemented by the federal government and the World Bank.
While urging Rivers government to make a deliberate effort to reverse the narrative, Policy Alert said “It is a paradox that while Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has been leading the charge for subnational fiscal autonomy, the state under his watch has failed to put in place the necessary transparency and accountability safeguards to reduce the vulnerability of its public finance system to corruption and other governance risks.”
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The statement insisted that openness around government’s financial transactions ensures that citizens and accountability institutions can follow government programmes and actions, having access to vital information needed to hold the government at all levels accountable.
It said Rivers State must emulate the other eight states of Niger Delta in making their documents public to enlighten citizens on government’s plans for them and how it intends to execute the plans.
“It also helps citizens understand how their resources were managed during the previous fiscal year, thereby reinforcing their trust in the government.”
The organisation said it has launched a social media campaign tagged #PublishRiversBudget, calling on members of the public and other CSOs to support the campaign for the Government of Rivers State to publish its annual budgets and other fiscal documents online.
