By Ralph Oluwatoyin
The Ekiti State Governor, His Excellency, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has said that promotion and improvement of local government areas are very important to the various developmental strategies that would be in place to drive the prosperity agenda of his administration.
Oyebanji made this known while declaring open a 3-day workshop organised for top functionaries of Local Government Areas in the State on the domestication of the National Chart of Accounts (NCoA)- Complaints Budget Template in Ado Ekiti.
The Governor who was represented by the Head of Service, Bamidele Agbede, Esq. explained that Local Government system is designed to bring governance close to the people at the grassroots, hence, the domestication of the NCoA-Compliant Budget would assist greatly in developing the local government and attest to the symbiotic relationship between the State and the Local Governments as tiers of Government while the two tiers maintain their constitutional autonomy.
In his own word “I have no doubt that the domestication of the NCoA-Compliant Budget Template at the Local Government level will promote transparency, accountability and openness in the equitable distribution and utilization of the meager resources available for the implementation of the various lofty programmes and projects as appropriated in your annual Budget. Against this backdrop, I want to reaffirm the commitment of my administration to continually provide the necessary support towards the adoption of various fiscal reforms that will make your activities impactful, thus enlisting the trust and confidence of the masses in your ability to transform your respective LGAs and LCDAs. Put succinctly, I am irrevocably committed to our goal of raising the standard of fiscal management in Ekiti in conformity with the best global practice.”
Ekiti State Governor who harps on the importance and role of sound budgeting system which cannot be overemphasized in the development planning of any state, directed that a sound budgeting system be entrenched at the local government after his assumption of office when he observed that the local government runs a different budget cycle that was different from the January to December Budget cycle adopted in the state, saying that the workshop will go a long way in actualizing the proper direction in budgeting.
He stressed further that the NCoA Budget template is now the standard among the sub-nationals even some States of the federation has adopted this novel initiatives at their Local Government levels and happy to announce that Ekiti State is about the first state in the south west to make the move to adopt this new template.
Oyebanji thanked the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) for being at the forefront in developing the capacity of officers in the intervention window of the World Bank’s State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS), Programme-for-Results (P-for-R), which will not only improve the budget in the state but will also enhance the knowledge of state officials towards the preparation of State’s Financial documents.
The Governor called on Chairmen and Accounting Officers at the Local Government level to familiarize themselves with the 30-Year State development plan (2021-2050) prepared within the context of the general vision of the state to enable successful administrations to work in line with the objectives, goals and deliverables to further accelerate development in their localities.
Also, the Governor advised the administration of LGAs and LCDAs not to compromise fiscal discipline, ensure in the allocation and utilization of the meager resources at their respective areas, guard against budget infraction and promotes openness, transparency and accountability.
He called on the participants to take the workshop seriously and benefits from the gains it provides and expected the officials to maximize the opportunity to develop their budgeting skills, get more acquinted with the new budget template in order to develop the local areas of the state.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Budget, Economic Planning and Performance Management, Hon. Niyi Adebayo expressed profound gratitude to ALGON, Ekiti State for their cooperation and support for the innovation on Budget process, called on the Local Government functionaries to be conversant with the policies of Government and also adopt the modern techniques of translating these policies into action.
He said that the knowledge gained at the workshop will improve, in no small measure, the technical capacity of the officers and broaden their skills in the NCoA compliant Budget template which will ensure further transparency and accountability in the utilization of public resources.