Commenting on the development, BudgIT Foundation’s Country Director, Gabriel Okeowo, expressed displeasure over the unprecedented delay.
Tracka, BudglT Foundation’s service delivery promotion platform, has demanded that Nigeria's Budget Office release the budgetary details of the N100 billion Zonal Intervention Project (ZIP) outlined in the 2024 approved budget.
Tracka made the demand in a statement issued on Friday by its Head, Ayomide Ladipo, who said that despite President Bola Tinubu signing the 2024 budget into law on January 1, details of the N100 billion Zonal Intervention Project are yet to be released, noting that this is the first time this has happened in 10 years.
According to Ladipo, in previous years, the specifics of this section of the Nigerian government budget were available on the Budget Office of the Federation's website for public access.
“However, despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signing the budget on January 1, 2024, the detailed allocation of the N100 billion Zonal Intervention Project remains undisclosed.
“In addition, the 2023 third and fourth quarter Budget Implementation Reports and Monthly Fiscal Account of the Federal Government, particularly between September 2023 and April 2024, are yet to be published.
“This undermines transparency and accountability as citizens and oversight bodies cannot monitor how public funds are utilized effectively,” the statement said.
Commenting on the development, BudgIT Foundation’s Country Director, Gabriel Okeowo, expressed displeasure over the unprecedented delay.
"This is the first time this has happened in ten years,” he said.
Okeowo added, “All necessary fiscal documents must be available to the public to ensure an open, transparent, and accountable budget implementation process and enable citizens to monitor and ensure the delivery of these projects, especially in the current economic reality."
Ladipo said, “The implications of not having the aforementioned documents publicly available and accessible will keep citizens uninformed about the government's fiscal accounts and the budget implementation process, aiding the mismanagement of taxpayer funds, among other anomalies.
“Tracka calls on the Budget Office of the Federation, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take necessary action and upload detailed information on the Zonal Intervention Projects and other fiscal documents to their websites for public use.”
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