• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Commissioner explains why Taraba produced citizens’ budget 

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Taraba State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Solomon Elisha has said his ministry produced a simplified version of the state budget called citizens’ budget to ensure transparency in governance.

In an interview with our correspondent in Jalingo, Elisha said government was determined to ensure that the people of the state follow government-planned spending for the development of the state.

The commissioner, who said the innovation was part of Governor Darius Ishaku’s quest to bring transparency in governance, urged the people of the state to support the administration to serve them better.

“Over time, people look at the budget as a document for the elite class. We are determined to change that perception.

“Budget is a public document and an average man on the street of Taraba ought to know the plans of the state government towards the development of the state and in that way they will support the government better.

“I am happy to announce to you that we have produced 10,000 copies of the simplified version of the budget which can be read and easily comprehended by an average person,” he said.

According to him, “Although we couldn’t organise an elaborate ceremony for the distribution of the copies of the simplified citizens’ budget because of the pandemic we have at hand, we have devised other ways and distributed copies to citizens.

“We have also uploaded a soft copy of the citizens’ budget on the government website which can be accessed by anybody we wish to do so.”

The Budget and Planning Commissioner said government was making plans to see the state as one of the best three in Nigeria in terms food production, natural resources exploration and model in the north in the near future.

He commended Governor Ishaku for his deliberate efforts towards ensuring the development of the state, adding that his ministry was working hard in fast-tracking development of the state through robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.

“We are here for a serious business and we won’t relent until we achieve our goals. So far, we have searched and discovered that Ondo State has the best monitoring and evaluation template and we are going to copy their template, work on it and deploy here to track progress,” he said.

 

 Nathaniel Gbaoron, Jalingo