State govts. laud USAID for improved IGR, transparency, others

Critical stakeholders, including commissioners, senior civil servants, have commended improvements in states revenues, transparency through their partnerships with USAID. They said this situation in USAID’s Nigeria Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State) project. In separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the stakeholders made the observation at the end of a two-day State2State Transformation Committees’ Technical Review Meeting in Abuja. The stakeholders, who were drawn from the six focal states of Ebonyi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe and Akwa Ibom, under the project, stated that huge successes had been recorded in their states .

They noted that successes were specifically recorded in citizens’ involvement, improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as well as transparency and accountability. The Chairman, Gombe State Transformation Team, Dr Ishiyaku Mohammed, stated that the project had impacted the state greatly, particularly in improving budget processes, IGR strategy and engagement with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). Mohammed, who is the Special Adviser to the Gombe State Governor on Budget Planning and Development Partner Coordination, stressed that there had been a great level of openness in government financing. “There has been improved consultation with regard to budget processes because it is available for people to track and that had improved transparency and accountability. The partnership had also helped to improve human resource development, access to primary healthcare, mainstreaming Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) as well as ensuring basic education.

“Budgetary provisions for the health sector for instance, moved from about seven per cent to about 12 per cent and for the education sector we have hit 15 per cent mark,” he said. Akwa-Ibom state Commissioner for Finance, Dr Linus Nkan, said the government had been able to identify gaps and challenges in governance through its partnership with USAID on the State2State project. He added that “the programme had been quite impactful in the reforms the state was embarking upon to enhance financing, transparency and accountability and citizens’ inclusion in governance.” Abubakar Muhammad, the Sokoto State Head of Service, said the project was critical in ensuring strong institutions in the various states. He said part of the drive by the project to enable states have strong institutions, citizens’ engagement and prudence in management of state resources, was laudable.

Muhammad, who is the Chairman, Sokoto Transformation Committee, noted that with the level of improvement recorded by states in finance management, there would be more development in critical sectors. Dr Ugbala Igwe, Secretary to the Ebonyi state government and Coordinating Commissioner, commended USAID for initiating the State2State project. He said the impact so far recorded in the six focal states would help to improve the quality of life of the people. Igwe urged USAID to expand the project to cover more states in the country, in view of its impact. John Onyeukwu, Acting Chief of Party of the USAID State2State project, said states had improved significantly in the area of primary healthcare, basic education and WaSH. “The review meeting with our state transformation committees was aimed at looking at the work done so far. It also aimed at how the states can better structure and make the gains sustainable, because it was important that they take over ownership of whatever we are doing,” he said.

Onyeukwu added that “a whole lot was improving in the states, especially in the area of IGR. Also, some states have started using Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for their budgeting process and many of them are working on a debt management strategy document. So, a lot of things are changing and we are very happy. The capacity within the states is also improving and we are glad.” The acting chief of party expressed optimism that when the World Bank announced the results of the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) programme, the six focal states would feature as the highest performing states.

The State2State project is a five year programme that has been billed to end in 2025. It is aimed at improving government’s ability to plan budgets, raise revenues, increase responsiveness to citizens’ needs and priorities. It is further aimed at improving government and civil society capacity to manage conflicts, as well as oversee service delivery in the health, education sectors, as well as WaSH.