USAID State2State trains LGAs, community stakeholders on participatory budget process

USAID-Nigeria State Accountability, Transparency, and Effectiveness (State2State) Activity has hahasrained Stakeholders of Local Government Areas in Ebonyi State on the participatory budget process at the community level, with a focus on clear, concise and accessible information about budget and budget processes. The training was part of the Local Government Area 2025 Budget Consultative meeting held recently for communities and LGA stakeholders of Ikwo, Ebonyi, Abakaliki and Ohaozara LGAs.

Addressing stakeholders at the budget consultation meeting, the State Team Lead of USAID State2State Activity, Dr Sam Onyia, represented by the LGA Manager, Mrs Ebere Eze, said the meeting was to involve all stakeholders in the citizen’s needs identification process that will form the 2025 LG budgets of the priority LGAs. 

She noted that the meeting was also to establish the LGA annual budget consultation communication channel, popularize the community charter of demand among community-level stakeholders, foster inclusiveness in budget consultation and enhance civic participation of women-ledSOs and other socially excluded groups in the budget process.

The two-day meeting for each of the priority LGAs featured a presentation on the meaning and importance of the budget, what budget consultation was all about and the LGA budget manual, calendar and call circular. Participants were also trained on understanding the process, tools and techniques for budget consultation, stakeholders in budget consultation, and the roles of government and the citizens. Others were the importance of the community charter of demand and the ed for mainstreaming of gender and social inclusion in public budget consultation.

Treasurers and DPRS of the various priority LGAs presented a review of their respective previous budget performance in areas of executions, locations of projects, their impacts and challenges to the effective implementation of budgets at the Local government Levels.

During the plenary session, participants discussed the implementation status of 2024 CCD-identified projects in each LGA, discussed citizneedseeds and recommendations, 2025 CCD projects to be identified and agreement on priority areas for the 2025 budget of the state and LGAs.

Highpoints of the budget consultative meeting, which was well attended by Town Union Presidents, Ward Councilors, Traditional Rulers, Youth and Women Leaders, Principal Officers of the LGAs, CSOs, ministries of Local Government and Rural Development, were communities’ identification of their priority needs and submission to relevant ministries and DPRS of the LGAs.