As Cross River holds its one-day budget consultative forum, the Governor, Prince Bassey Otu, says he will ensure that the 2024-budget when deliberated and passed, will be implemented to the latter.
Otu stated this at Dr. Franklin Ani Auditorium, College of Health Technology, Calabar while declaring open the stakeholders forum.
This was contained in a press release made available to newsmen in Calabar on Thursday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche.
The Governor who was represented by his Deputy, Rt. Hon Peter Odey, said when the budget is finally passed, his administration would ensure that the implementation ratio will be transparent for everyone to view the features of a new brand state.
“We will ensure that this budget is implemented to the very latter, for if we do not implement appropriately, then we stand the risk to not creating the right opportunity to reduce poverty and hunger, or improved healthcare in the state.
“We are on a track to having a right budget in 2024, a budget that will build Cross River State, a budget that will improve infrastructure, education, healthcare, the standard of living and the transport sectors.
“We cannot create wealth as a government if we do not budget adequately, we cannot even employ because we would not know the number of people to employ,” Otu said while narrating the importance of the budget consultative forum.
Gov Bassey Otu
In his keynote address, Commissioner for Finance, Mr Mike Odere, argued that resources are scarce, hence to deliver on the mandate as government, there must be proper allocation and utilization of the scarce resources.
Odere who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Atim Ekpenyong, remarked that top government functionaries need to ensure that projects succeed on time and within budget through better management of both human and material resources.
He listed the benefits of effective resource utilization to include maintaining productivity as it prevents staff from underperforming and being overburdened by workloads, reducing risks of oversights, as well as management of projects with better visibility, among others.
Chairman, House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon Cyril Omini, stressed the need to put in place a budget that aligns with the needs of the people and prioritizing projects aimed at creating a better tomorrow.
“Budgetary process affects each and every one of us, our well-being, personal goals and aspirations, therefore we must all take active part in the budgetary process and work towards a budget that is focused on making a difference in the lives of our people,” Omini said.
He further enjoined stakeholders to look beyond individual interests while working towards a common goal for the good of the state and citizenry.
Earlier in his welcome speech, the Special Adviser, Budgets Monitoring and Evaluation, Otu Ita, informed that the purpose of the forum is to achieve an all inclusive budget document that will meet the desires of the people where no one will be left behind.
Ita remarked that his office on the directives of the governor, is developing a medium term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper which is a three year rolling plan from where annual budgets shall be fine tuned.
“The proposed medium term expenditure framework and fiscal strategy paper is developed using historical data. These data are sourced from previous years accounts and audited financial statements which the people first agenda remains the hallmark in developing such,”the Special Adviser, Budgets disclosed.
He further expressed hope that at the end of the forum, development gaps that existed in the various villages and urban areas will be identified and appropriate steps taken to address them
