Ebonyi joins open budget system

The Ebonyi state government will henceforth release the details of its budget.

This is because the state government has joined the Open Budget project organised by BudgIT, a civic tech transparency organisation.

In a statement released on Thursday and signed by Ayomide Faleye, BudgIT’s communications lead, the organisation said it will support the state in its will to improve transparency and accountability.

“This will include engagement with key government officials to discuss best practices in making budgets readily available and quickly developed in line with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS),” the statement read.

“With the involvement of the state government’ technical team, BudgIT will design an Open State portal for the State government which will serve as a repository for the pre-budget statements, executive budget proposals, enacted budgets, audit reports, implementation reports, financial statements and other public documents.

“Ultimately, BudgIT will assist the Ebonyi state government in developing a simplified version of the citizens budget when the annual budget document is released.

“This document will be available on the state’s Open Budget portal, BudgIT’s website and disseminated across every channel for a structured participatory mechanism designed to capture views of the citizens throughout each budget cycle.”

Commenting on the agreement reached between both parties, Gabriel Okeowo, BudgIT’s principal lead, said the open budget system is a win-win for government and citizens and urged other state governments to join the initiative.