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The Kaduna State Planning and Budget Commission, in collaboration with Jalad Media Concept, has engaged journalists in Kaduna on the need for increased citizens awareness and participation in budget process in the state.
Speaking at the Commission on Wednesday in Kaduna, the state Commissioner for Planning and Budget, Hajiya Umma Aboki, said the engagement with journalists is to ensure increased service delivery by strengthening capacity of media professionals in understanding the budget process and improving its reportage.
She noted that engagement with the media and civil society organisations is critical to the Kaduna State Government because of the guidance it gives them and ensuring that their policies and budgets are to the benefit of the citizens and in line with what the state wants.
“We want to have a budget that the government and the citizens will both agree that it is a budget for the people which addresses what they want to see in the state,” she said.
Aboki further said that the media would help in campaigns, engagement with communities and dissemination of information regarding the process and inputs of the citizens in budget formulation.
Earlier, Mr Joshua James, the Executive Director of Jalad Media Concept, said that the government is doing a lot and the citizens are not aware.
He said the engagement is to enable the journalists get acquainted with the budget process of the state and practically with the medium-term expenditure framework which is a multi-year budgeting document to how the various ministries departments and agencies get their shares.
“The engagement will also enlighten the journalists on how the government gets figures and budgeting patterns and how it is implemented,” he said.
James explained that without budget implementation, there wouldn’t be service delivery which prompted the idea to inform journalists and in turn the citizens to be acquainted with what the government is doing.
“Apart from the constitution, the budget document is the next most important document either at state or federal level, so there is the need for media professionals to be responsible in informing educating, and setting agenda, shaping opinion and the need to know what the government is doing to improve the trust that the citizens have on government.
“The media is the only organ outside government that has the constitutional responsibility to hold the government accountable for its actions and inactions, therefore the media must play the role effectively and efficiently,” James said. (NAN)
