Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki

Governors of the Southeast geopolitical zone have resolved to work more closely together in order to ensure full implementation of budgets and other fiscal policies of their various states for the good of the people of the region.

This resolution, Daily Sun gathered, was part of their recent efforts to promote economic integration of the region that would, among other things, expand the wealth base of their citizens, making the region lucrative enough to attract investors.

This was disclosed Thursday by the Director-General, South East Governors’ Forum (SEGF), Prof. Simon Ortuanya, at a workshop organized by the SEGF’s secretariat in collaboration with the Department for International Development (DFID) through its Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL).

It was tagged ‘Nigeria on Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) and Open Government Partnerships (OGP)’ and was held at Osborn La Palm Hotels, Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.

According to Ortuanya, the realization that budgets are usually not effectively or fully implemented in Nigeria informed the setting up of the FSP and OGP programmes to enable states to engage in peer learning.

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“This is bringing the South East region together for [the] purpose of [a] fiscal sustainability plan as well as open government partnership. The whole idea is that we want the South East states to be moving in the same direction and at the same time.

“Essentially, the fiscal sustainability plan is to align the budgets with the aims and aspirations and direction of the people. We believe that if we get their fiscal sustainability plans right, it means that budgets and [the] budgeting process will be open and transparent; as well as the implementation of the budget.

“Now, look at the Open Government Partnership, it is also the same thing. Civil society as well as the ordinary people must be part of the planning and process of governance. In that way, we ensure accountability and transparency. We want to get the people involved in what is happening” he said.

Also speaking, the Results and Learning Manager of PERL, Ms. Yetunde Adegoke, informed that the aim of the programme was to share ideas among the different states in the country, starting with the southeast.

“Once we actually find out in practical terms what this means at state and regional levels, we can share that learning between regions. Also, it can feed into policies that have been set at [the] national level and say ‘look this is what is happening on ground’ so they can improve on their policies,” she said.