By Naomi Omorowa
The Edo State Ministry of Finance, Budget, Economic Planning and Development, has held a one-day stakeholder Consultative Forum to present the 2022 Citizens Budget, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) 2023-2025 and the 2023 proposed budget.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Egboigbe who was represented by the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr. Bernard Aigbe, said the 2022 budget was tagged ‘Budget of Renewal, Hope and Growth’ in order to give immense impetus to the Making Edo Great Again agenda.
Eboigbe stressed the importance of budgeting and said that citizens’ budgets should be accessible by the general public including being published online, on the official website of the State.
He added that this will make it easier to understand government activities, eliminate misappropriation of funds and enable citizens to get necessary feedback.
Recall that in March 2022, during a four-day training organised by the ministry, the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki said: “Budgeting is at the core and the heart of government and you can’t prepare a budget without the citizens.
“For us in Edo, preparing the citizens’ budget is non-negotiable, at least for me the Governor, its non-negotiable.” he said at the time.
Speaking, the Commissioner noted that the 2022 Budget of Renewal, Hope and Growth, has certain goals that involve economic growth and stability, public safety and security, business environment reform and the participation of the private sector in the development of the State, civil service transformation, education and health amongst others.
He commended the State Government for the Edo State Basic Education Sector Transformation (EdoBEST) program and its recognition across States and outside the country because of the gains of the program.
According to him, the sources for funding the budget are Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Federal Allocations, Grants and other capital receipts.
Eboigbe explained that the 2023 budget will cover the social sector, administrative sector, law/justice sector, and the economic sector.
The Director of Budget in the Ministry, Mr. Michael Oseh, spoke on the 2021 budget performance, update on the implementation of the 2022 Budget, and said that the State aims to accelerate economic growth through facilitating job creation.
He listed some of the achievements of the 2021 budget as employment creation, the commencement of health insurance, construction of the Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub and Sound Stage, the John Odigie Oyegun Public Service Academy and the construction of new office spaces.
While the participants made their contributions, the Permanent Secretary and Directors from the Ministry gave clarifications and provided answers to questions raised.
